Biggest Mistake
by Mrs. Fahrenheit
Summary: Don't bother reading yet. This is me doing the best I can to save my stories - my computer is crashing and I have lost my jump drive.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Everything else is JK Rowling's.

OoOoO

Harry stared at his wall. Today was bad. Today, his therapist had made him realize his biggest mistake. _One word about me seeing a therapist and you're as good as dead, I'm warning you._ Anyway, the therapist had helped him see that his whole life for the last three years was a complete mistake.

Harry, being all happy to have defeated Voldemort, had gotten drunk. Completely pissed. Hammered. Whatever. The point is he kissed another girl. One thing led to another and, well, Baby Harry became…existent. Now, his wife was not pleased with that bit of information. Not really. No, Hermione hadn't taken it well. They got divorced.

The story isn't that simple. Before their divorce and even Baby Harry's creation, Harry and Hermione were in marriage counseling trying to fix a marriage that was falling apart. Their marriage counselor had asked them how they planned to work things out. Did they want to or did they just think a divorce would be better? Harry had come out and said: 'I have to marry Ginny.'

Hermione's immediate response to that was: 'You're kidding. The only way you'd _have_ to marry her was if you'd…oh, Merlin.' Then she promptly fainted into his lap.

So, Ginny and Harry got married a week after Harry and Hermione's divorce papers came in the mail. Hermione, always one to be proud of certificates, framed hers and hung it on the wall. Harry crumpled his up angrily and threw it into the fire. Ginny even had the nerve to ask Hermione to be her maid of honour. That was a story all in itself.

So, baby Jillian Potter was born. Everything was great for a year or two. Harry and Hermione remained best friends, plus little swats to the head every once in a while for Harry. He was slightly jerkish. They took turns with their kids, Emily, Ricki and Lily, every other weekend. Hermione kept them during the week because Harry had a new family. It was best that way.

Later, Harry began to feel depressed. Really. He stopped going to work – which happened to be Pro Quidditch. How fudging hard could it be? Apparently too hard to do when you are chronically ill with depression. Hermione took up smoking because she knew he was sad and it was all her fault and Harry started drinking because he knew it was all his fault. Ginny was being her usual self, trying to get Harry into bed at any given moment.

Harry knew he still loved Hermione and he assumed he loved Ginny. He was married to her, after all. Hermione still loved him, deep inside she knew it, too. She still whispered his name in her sleep. According to Ron. Who stayed at her house a lot. Yeah.

But today, Harry's therapist had helped him to see the whole nasty truth. He didn't love Ginny. He had made a huge mistake in leaving Hermione for her. Sure, she had been pregnant, but Hermione had been, too! He just…hadn't known at the time of conception with Ginny that Hermione was pregnant. She really ought to tell him these things. They were slightly important. Merlin.

OoOoO

"Hermione, I have a problem." Harry burst out as he bounded into Hermione's apartment. She looked up from her bills and smiled.

"Buy the wrong kind of shaving cream again?" She joked. Her face turned back to serious and she nodded towards her bathroom. "Don't worry, picked you up some yesterday night."

"Where were you yesterday night?" Harry asked, suddenly extremely jealous. Hermione rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Why's it so important to you?"

"You're my wife!"

"_Was_ your wife. Now, I'm your ex-wife. I was at dinner with you and Ron, stupid. We went shopping at Finnegan Mall, remember?"

"Right."

"Now, what's the breaking news?" Hermione looked all ready to be phoney-excited. Harry sat down beside her nervously. She frowned and lay a hand on his knee. "Alright, circumstances are grim. Go on."

"Well, you know how I've been seeing a counselor about my … wounded happiness, right?"

"You mean the shrink for your depression?" She grinned,

"Yes. Now, stop! I'm trying to be really delicate about this. Okay, well. He helped me realize that everything is a lie. Everything I've done over the last two years is a lie. I love you and I couldn't live without you if I tried. Leaving behind a good marriage and three kids because of something I royally fucked up wasn't right. I need to know that I've still got you. I still need you." Harry looked quite pleased that he had had the moral fiber to actually articulate a complete string of dialect. Yes, that was looking rather difficult to him when he walked up the steps to her house forty seven seconds ago.

"Well, of course you've still got me! Who would buy your shaving cream if you didn't have me!" Hermione grinned. Harry shrunk with anxiety as he realized that he would have to explain this to her.

"Uh, actually, I don't. Not the way I need to have you." He looked down at his shoes, realizing that this exchange had recently turned fairly tense. He heard Hermione breathing beside him; short, soft bursts of air with the small and choked sound of restrained tears hidden behind them. "I'm sorry, I'll just go."

"No, Harry, sit." He did as he was told and waited patiently for her to continue. He had learned years ago that it was best to let her control significant discussions. If you did something wrong, like ask for a sandwich when she asks about having another baby, you won't likely be having another baby soon because it's hard to get your wife pregnant when she has banned you from sleeping with her for six weeks. Yeah. "You love Ginny, Harry, and I'm not going to come between the happiness of two people in love. Alright, so Ginny isn't exactly my best friend, but I like her. She just so nice…well, except for that one time when she stole my husband, but everyone makes mistakes!"

Harry looked at her incredulously.

"Hermione, you've just said that it's not easy to hate the woman who stole me from you. And you don't understand: I love you still." He sniffed slightly, convincing himself that he had allergies and he was in no way expressing grief through wet stuff flowing from his eyes.

"I don't understand? _I don't understand?_" She seemed to pause and cool herself down while Harry looked hastily at the door. It was so close, yet so far… "Harry, you have no idea how hard waking up every day to see your half of the bed empty is. How hard it is to stare at your spot at the breakfast table every morning. How hard it is set the table for five and suddenly remember that you don't live here anymore. Or even how much it hurts to ignore the fact that you need 'Wizard Whiskers Be-Gone' shaving cream when I walk by it in the drug stores. Why do you think I buy it for you?"

Harry stared at her red painted toenails and heard her sharp gasp of breath as she bit back a sob. His eyes slammed shut to stop the flow of tears, but only succeeded in pushing them out from beneath his eyelids. Abruptly, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight to him, vowing never to let go.

He had never realized that she might hurt still, too. She had never showed a single weakness and was always smiling. Right from the minute she woke up from fainting in Marriage Therapy. She had said: 'So, do you want kids on the second and fourth weekend or the first and third of every month?'

He still remembered the last night before she kicked him out and told him he would need to live with his new wife because she might get suspicious that he still lived with his ex. She had broken down only once and it was then. She had begged to know why he liked drinking so much and asked him one last favour: would he make love to her one more time, just to let her know he still cared? Well, of course. It was possibly their most emotional love making ever. Despite the somber mood, he had put everything he had into that night. Everything.

"Hermione, I'm sorry and I know you're going to regret this later, so please, stop now before you say something you'll be unhappy about." Harry whispered, clutching her hair fiercely. She sniffed sadly and looked at him with those big, beautiful brown eyes and smiled dejectedly.

"What did I do wrong, Harry? I tried so hard to make you happy, I really did. All I ever wanted was to grow up, get married, start a family and live happily ever after. Look at me now; I'm thirty some years old, divorced with a family lacking a dad and a garbage can beside my bed so that when I cry so hard I make myself sick, I won't get it on my covers! Where did I go wrong, Harry?" She choked back a sob and buried her face in his chest, breathing in the smell that had been missing from her pillow for far too long. His grip on her tightened with grief and he let a tear slip into her brown curls.

"Hermione, you never went wrong. I did. Who left? Who slept with someone else? Who has royally screwed up his life and the lives of everyone he loves? Let me tell you, it was not you."

"But why wasn't I good enough for you? Was it that I wasn't good enough in bed? Or I wasn't great at cooking? Was it my looks? I know I'm not pretty, Harry, but if you really ever loved me, that wouldn't mater!" She beat a fist against his shoulder so hard he flinched. He shifted her so that she sat on his lap, in a more comfortable position than having to lean over awkwardly to hold her.

"No, Hermione! You were great at everything, absolutely everything!" He exclaimed. She laughed derisively and he pulled her face to look at him, directly in the eye. "Even at looking prettier every time I saw you."

"Oh, come on, Harry. I know I don't fit into any of my clothes from before I got pregnant with Emily. I'm just not a size two anymore." She cried. She didn't seem incredibly happy about this fact, so Harry saw his chance and seized it.

"Hermione, I never noticed. Honestly, I didn't. And you know what? I have never seen anything more sexy than you waiting for me on our bed, your belly all swollen after carrying a baby for eight months, skin glowing like the sun…Hermione, you being pregnant was part of all my fantasies. I had always wanted a wife and kids and when you were pregnant, I got a two-in-one deal. Your body is the most beautiful entity that God put on this earth."

"You don't mean that." Hermione giggled. Harry smiled. Laughter was always a good sign. Unless it was mean and fake. Then it was scary. Hermione paused bashfully for a moment. "Do you?"

"Mmm-hmm." He smiled softly and tugged her hand gently towards his crotch. She buried her face in his shoulder shyly and tentatively placed her hand there. He heard her intake of breath and grinned. He knew she had felt it. That stiffness that radiated excitement over her.

"Harry, I miss you so much." Her hand remained pressed into him lovingly. Her mind moved back to a time when everything was good and she didn't have to feel guilty about touching him there, not even in public, never mind secret.

"I know, love. Me, too." He murmured, rocking her back and forth gently, his face buried in her sweet smelling hair. "Me, too."

AN: Hey, guys. There's chappy number one! Hope y'all like it. By the way, if you don't offer constructive criticism, don't completely bash me. It's mean, ok? I had someone tell me recently that I should stop writing because I had absolutely no talent. That's not the sort of thing that writers need to here from virtual people they don't know. Advice? Yes. Bullying? Not a chance.

Thanks, guys!

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	2. Chapter 2

"Harry, sweetheart, I'm home!" A girlish voice rang through the top apartment at the Ambassador Apartment Abodes. It was everything she had ever dreamed of: spacious, crisp, clean and expensive enough to have to have a man like Harry Potter to pay for it. Perfect.

She stopped and listened in case she hadn't heard him over the clacking of her red stilettos on the tile flooring. Nothing. Where could he be?

A sudden thought struck her under her breastbone. What if he was out with another woman? It had happened before. Hell, she'd been the other woman! She knew how easy it was to make him give in. All it took was a tablespoon of Amortentia and a goblet of Firewhiskey.

_Slam!_ She jumped as the solid oak door to their apartment whipped open in raging energy. She raced into the hall, wand at the ready, to see if the intruder needed blasting down. Oh. It was Harry.

"Sweetums, you're home!" She cried with a bubbly laugh. She was too busy looking pretty to notice that he shuddered at the sound of her voice. He sighed crossly and flopped down onto his favourite chair, the only one he had gotten from his divorce with Hermione. She had gotten everything else. Well, he'd left her all of their possessions.

"Hello, Ginerva." He grumbled. She smiled sultrily and pulled up her skirt to show him her tiny knickers.

"Sounds like someone had a bad day. Want to make it better?"

"Sounds like someone's day just got more frustrating. Sex will not make it better." Harry growled. Ginny looked slightly put out, but only tried harder. She settled into his lap after removing her skirt. She pulled off her shirt, pushing her torso into his sexily. He groaned irritably and pushed her away. "Ginerva, I don't want to have sex with you. I've just gotten back from Hermione's. We had a little talk and I'm kind of shaken-up, okay?"

"Oh, of course. The whore who wants you back. She's going to ruin our wonderful marriage, Harry." Ginny pouted. He looked at her disdainfully before sighing heavily and moving away from her on the couch. "I don't want some random woman stealing you from me, sweetheart."

"Ginerva, Hermione is not some random woman and really, she'd only be taking something of hers back. It's not as if I hooked up with her for a one-night-stand-gone-wrong at a night club." He glared at her as if you say 'like I did with you'. Ginny looked away amiably. Kindness was not going to work this time, Ginny.

"Honey, you don't mean that."

"Stop calling me that. My name is Harry." He rumbled angrily. Ginny smiled like an innocent little girl and nodded endearingly. Harry rolled his eyes spectacularly. Ginny laughed inwardly to herself. It was a good thing she wasn't in this marriage for love. She didn't get any of that. She did get sex, though. Less and less of it, however. Maybe it was time to reinforce the 'bond' they had together.

"Alright, sweetie. You know, I was thinking…maybe it's time we had another baby. What do you think?" She grinned. Harry froze. She could see the bitterness run across his face.

"No. I just don't want to. I don't love you, Ginerva. You know that. I'm only here to protect my honour, not because I want to be. You know full well that I'd take Hermione back in a second if she offered." And today she did! He smiled to himself and watched Ginny's face grow livid. She drew in a breath to tell him off:

"Harry, she doesn't love you! If she did, why aren't you with her? If she loved you, it wouldn't matter that you made a mistake! I know what goes on at her house when you visit, but I don't make a sound because I know you don't really want her, it's just the sex!" Ginny shouted. Two year old Jillian woke with a start and began to scream. "Great! Now you've woken her up!"

Harry sneered in frustration at the little girl's cries. He really loved that little girl, but at the same time, he could hardly stand her for being Ginny's. He missed seeing his real kids every day. He hadn't been around to see Emily through years 13 and 14. He had missed Ricki getting his Hogwarts Letter last year and Lily's baptism, too. He wanted that back.

"Ginny? Listen to me, we've got to talk." He saw her muscles restrict as if she knew what was coming. Her head hung for a moment before she turned back to him, a hateful glare on her face.

"What is it? Knocked someone else up?"

"No. I just think I should move out. I don't love you and you don't love me. I want Jilly to have a stable life, but we can't give her that when all we do is fight. She needs to be surrounded by tenderness and devotion. You can keep all of this – the apartment, the furniture, everything but my money. I'll send you that child support stuff, but that's all. Don't think you'll be able to get into my back account at Gringotts. I'm changing it today. Already have, actually."

Ginny's shoulders sank unhappily. Harry reached out to touch her and she lay her head on his arm cautiously. It was hard to spend two years living with someone and not feel anything for them. He would miss her, he was sure, and she would miss him.

"I'll just go, Ginny. You're probably not very happy with me right now." He stood up and spelled his belongings into his suitcase and shrunk it, heading out the door. "Bye, Gin."

"Bye." She whispered tearfully. He swooped down and kissed baby Jilly goodbye and left. Time to rekindle his connection with Hermione.

OoOoO

"Hermione?" Harry called softly. He didn't want to wake her, but he did want her to know he was there. There was a slight rustling in the living room, so he made his way there.

"…don't know how it's going to come together, Ron. It's just not there! You can't make something from nothing unless you're Merlin, for Merlin's sake!" He could hear Hermione's voice whispering furiously over the floo. He walked closer and rounded the corner into the living room.

"Hey, Hermione." He said in a slightly louder voice than normal. She jumped so high that her head hit off the fireplace.

"Got to go, Ron, we'll talk more later." She said quickly, pulled her head out of the fire. "Harry! What a surprise! Come on in, put your suitcase down a moment, have some water. Oh you look terrible! Maybe a brandy would be more suitable."

Hermione bustled around, picking up papers and snatching them out of his hands when he tried for a closer look. "Don't touch, you! Willow!"

With a loud 'crack!' a house elf dressed in a maid's dress appeared before Hermione, looking very eager.

"Yes, Miss Hermione?" It squeaked. Hermione smiled and patted its head.

"Can you please get me and Harry a large brandy?" She asked politely. The tiny elf nodded happily and cracked itself to the kitchen. Harry smiled at Hermione fondly. She was always so kind to everyone. "So, going on vacation? Need me to baby-sit Jilly for you and Ginny?"

"Ah, no, actually. I was looking for something a little more intrusive." He grinned guiltily. Hermione's eyebrow popped up at his tone. "Well, I kind of need a place to stay. Ginny and I are over. For good."

"What is it with you and letting the lady have the house?" Hermione positively beamed at his announcement. She instantly began bustling about, tidying the house with her wand. Harry was slightly startled. It's not like he'd never been here before! He'd lived here for thirteen years, for Merlin's sake!

"Hermione? What's going on? Are you expecting company? I can leave if you want, really." He was on his feet, picking up his suitcase before she got to him.

"Don't be silly. It's just the kids. Tomorrow's the last day of term." She said excitedly. "Oh, I look forward to them coming home the minute they leave! The house is so quiet without them!"

"What about Lily?" Harry asked curiously. Hermione laughed and only increased Harry's confusion.

"Lily? She's sweet, Harry, but she sleeps three or four hours a day. There's just nothing for me to do when the other kids are gone." Hermione's eyes clouded slightly with tears as she remembered the things they had done together while the kids slept when they were still married. Harry held out a hand to her and she moved into him and let his arms encircle her for a moment. She missed those arms.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I had no idea that this divorce had been so hard on you. I thought I was the only one who felt anything about it." He murmured softly. She sniffed slightly and turned away from him, letting his arms rest on her stomach while she leaned against his chest.

"Well, it's not just you and me. Ron hates it, too. He says you're so different since it all fell apart that you don't even go on guys night out." Hermione answered tenderly. Harry's muscles stiffened around her. "Why don't you go? You need to let go of all of this once in a while."

"I don't drink anymore. I haven't been to a bar in two years." Harry whispered. Hermione sank further into his touch as she realized he had seen his mistake and attempted to fix it. But he fixed it too late. The damage had already been done.

"That's so sweet, Harry." She said in an undertone. His fingers drummed on her stomach lightly, constituting a tempo with the tiny little thumps on her body-hugging skin. "The kids miss you, too. They kept asking why you weren't here anymore. I just couldn't tell them the truth, Harry. It would destroy your relationship with them. So I told them that sometimes people get angry and they decide that living in the same house was bad. They believed me, too. Until they saw you with Ginny and Jillian. Ricki thought you and her had bought a baby because you wanted to make her feel happy since she wasn't married yet."

Harry chuckled and tickled Hermione's stomach lightly, making her squirm a little. She shot him a demising glare and turned back to face the fireplace. She sighed and he lay a kiss on her hair.

"What'd Emily think?" He asked. Her shoulders straightened rigidly and she stepped out of his arms, moving over to the couch.

"She shouted at me. She said that if I hadn't 'been so fucking horrible to you', she would still have a father. She blamed me for you leaving. She knew that you can't buy babies and she knew I was pregnant." Hermione's voice climbed with flustered tears. Harry's heart sunk at the thought of what this house had really been like after he left. "She screamed for hours about me being a repulsive wife and a terrible mom. I knew she was right, Harry, I couldn't even tell her it wasn't true. I couldn't make her stop. She told me that if I had just let you do what you wanted once in a while, you wouldn't have 'gone and fucked some slut to release all that pent up disgust', I believe she said."

"Hermione?" Harry asked softly. She looked up for a moment, eyebrows raised sardonically. "I love you and I have never been disgusted with you. You are a wonderful wife and a great mom and the only reason Ginny got knocked up was because she put Amortentia in my Firewhiskey. She even told me so."

"Harry, it's not a big deal. Ugh, I'm going to bed. Got to wake up early to get the house ready for Emily and Ricki tomorrow." Hermione stood up and stretched. Harry followed suit, grabbing his suitcase on the way up from his chair. It was his TV chair from before the divorce. Hermione had always hated that chair. He wondered why she still had it.

"Er, should I just head to the guest room?" Harry asked awkwardly. Hermione looked startled at his request.

"Why would you – oh, right. Uh, we don't have one, actually. We moved Lily into it when she moved out of her cot." Hermione thought for a moment, trying to find him a place to stay. "Emily needs her room tomorrow and she will scream for hours if you sleep there. Ricki doesn't have a bed because he prefers to sleep on the floor – Merlin save the child. The couch is rock hard and smells like baby puke. Well, looks like you're either in Lily's old cradle or with me. Your pick."

AN: Hey, everyone! How are you all liking it so far? I hope you like it. Remember, no Bashing of Bridgette! Criticize me, but please don't murder me with your words!

Thanks again,

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	3. Chapter 3

The cradle appeared to be about the size of Lily now. It was not looking good. Harry sighed, pulling a hand through his hair to mess it up. Hermione's cheeks glowed pink as her body heated. She loved it when he did that.

"Oh, well. It's not like we've never shared a bed before, right? Besides, we're thirty-two years old. I think we can handle it." Hermione said conclusively. Harry actually gulped. Sure, they had shared a bed before, but they had never shared a bed and not made love. How was he supposed to do this?

"We've never shared a bed and not gone at it like bunnies." Harry grinned, Hermione glared at him.

"Shut up."

"Right. Adults." He agreed. What? Why was he agreeing to all of this? Brainless, dim-witted, unintelligent dolt. Merlin's fuchsia knickers!

They headed towards Hermione's door, which Harry noticed to be the same one it always had been, and she pushed it open.

It was like walking into a movie of his life called 'Déja Vu'.

Everything was exactly the same. The bedspread was still Quidditch (Puddlemere United), the curtains still had snitches on a periwinkle background, the walls were still a creamy white, his old Hogwarts Quidditch shoes were still hanging on a hook by their closet. Even the green toothbrush that had been his two years ago was sitting in the cup with hers in the bathroom.

"Hermione?" Harry asked cautiously.

"If you make even one comment, I swear you'll be back on the street in a second." She said ominously. He smiled and moved over to his dresser, which was still there and empty. He began unpacking his clothes and plopped his new toothbrush into the cup by hers. She smiled. "It was almost like you were just on a business trip. If your stuff was here, you were here."

"Well, that causes a lot of problems." Harry grinned. Hermione cocked her head warningly. "Were can I put my toothbrush?"

"Oh, you are too much!" She laughed, lunging at him and throwing him onto the bed, following him with a little help. Her fingers dug into his sides, reaching every nerve possible and tickling him madly. He easily conquered her with his Quidditch muscles and pinned her down, tickling her back.

She was wiggling beneath him, giggling like a little girl. His face instantly found her neck, burying itself there and breathing in her exquisite scent. She had always smelled of vanilla and Wizard Whiskers Be-Gone shaving cream. He realized now that the latter had always come from him because now she just smelled like vanilla.

"You know, I really thought it would take a little longer, Harry." An amused voice came from the doorway. Harry and Hermione bashed heads while trying frantically to sit up. Ron was standing in the door of their bedroom, looking quite pleased if truth be told.

"Ron, I can explain – it's just, Ginny and I – well, Hermione said I could – you see, there's nowhere to sleep and I – you know what? Go away. I'm having fun." Harry stuttered before realizing that he honestly didn't care what in Sam hill Ron thought. He was enjoying himself and Ron was interrupting that enjoyment.

"Harry!" Hermione shrieked. Ron laughed loudly at her outburst.

"Look, guys, I've been waiting two years to walk in on you folks again. It's fun and much more pleasant than walking in on my sister trying to get Harry up." Ron grinned. Hermione looked mortified. Harry looked pleased.

"I've been waiting two years to give you something to walk in on, mate, but I'm still waiting. I don't think Miss Hermione is quite ready for that, yet." Harry's eyes swiveled to Hermione, who clamped hers shut tightly. Her shirt was riding up slightly and her lovely, taut stomach was showing through. He glared at the evil piece of skin that was trying to get him murdered.

"Yeah, I suppose. I'll let you get back to all that stuff I can walk in on." Ron said, popping away. In a second, he popped back. "Congratulations, mate."

Harry looked at Hermione for a second prior to flopping down beside her and planting a tender kiss on her neck, right at the pulse-point. She sighed and rolled into him, laying a hand on the middle of his chest.

Just like she always had.

OoOoO

"Hey, Harry." A small voice called beside his ear, scarcely brushing his hair with her lips. He jerked away, already frowning. Ginny was waking him up again? How often did a girl need sex at night?

His eyes opened to reveal Hermione, her hair tousled but still fairly straight from yesterday. His heart skipped a beat. What had he done?

"H-hermione?" He asked weakly. She smiled softly, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "What's going on?"

"You left Ginny, remember? You needed a place to stay, so you came here." A quick kiss buried itself in the connection between his ear, neck and jaw. He froze in confusion. Why was his ex-wife kissing him there? Why was his ex-wife kissing him _anywhere_?

"Er, alright. Did I happen to mention anything that might have made you have sex with me? I think I might have been drunk and I think we might have had sex. Where _you_ drunk?" Harry asked. There must be an explanation for him being in bed with Hermione. Or maybe nothing had happened. Maybe it was just like he remembered it.

"No, silly. Neither of us were drunk and we did not have sex." She grinned. "But we could, if you wanted to."

Oh, crap. She was laying on him and talking about having sex. Little Harry was pitching a tent. He tried desperately to sink further into the mattress. Not working.

"Oh!" Shit. She had felt Little Harry's tent. "Er, I wasn't serious, you know. Well, I guess I sort of was, but I … oh, screw it. It's destined to happen sometime or another."

Her fingers went to work on her silk PJ top, pushing it down her shoulders as she went. Harry's eyes expanded into an unnatural size and nearly popped out of their sockets when her shirt slid to reveal one curvy, round breast. His cock was aching offensively, throbbing to meet her. His hands were clutching the sheets distraughtly, trembling anxiously. It had been so long since he had touched her, but it was so soon, nevertheless.

"Hermione." Harry whimpered powerlessly. "Hermione, wait. I can't…if we start this, I won't be able to stop, love."

"Just once, Harry." She whispered softly, reaching for his hand. She pulled it from its grip on the mass of sheets and brought it tenderly to her breast. His fingers clamped down involuntarily and she shied away in pain. He loosened them and cupped her soothingly. Her breathing was fast and rough, bringing him to a full hard on. He knew she hadn't been touched in a while, judging by the look of fulfillment on her face from an effortless touch.

His fingers moved cautiously, bringing his thumb and index together by her sweet, pink nipple. Silently, he pressed together and rolled them in a circle. Her breath rushed from her lungs, head falling back in ecstasy, a groan of intense desire slipping from her tongue.

The look on her face pushed him over the edge and a hand shot down his boxers, clamping onto himself firmly. He wrenched on himself wildly, one hand still circling Hermione's beautiful nipple and pulling glorious noises from her mouth. He could feel her heat with the hand that wrapped around his cock…she was so close to him…if he only took his boxers down, he could slide into her so effortlessly. A scream of passion passed through her lips and his hips ground into her pelvis, his thumb peeking from his boxers to brush her moisture. He rubbed the wetness onto his cock, heaving mercilessly. The force felt so nice, more perfect than he had felt in a long time.

One last, uncompromising jerk of his cock sent him over the border of sanity and pushed him into the gaping hole of bliss. When it was all over, his hand withdrew from his boxers, covered in the pertinent evidence of his crusade against good judgment.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice was slow and breathy, pulling Harry back to the present and away from their past sexual activities.

"Yes, love?" He breathed choppily. Her face moved down to his, only and inch away. She pulled his hand up slowly and moved back slightly. Looking into his eyes the whole time, she leisurely ran her tongue up the side of his index finger, cleansing it of all evidence. He watched in disbelief at her display of sexiness.

"We haven't even kissed yet." She hummed subtly. Harry grinned at her statement and leaned forwards, pressing his lips to hers in a soft, warm kiss. Her mouth opened for him readily, her tongue caressing his ardently. "I love you, Harry Potter."

"I love you more." He breathed, pushing against her, hard again. She rolled her warmth into his cock, giving him a swift, grinding wiggle.

"I'd love to, Harry, but we've got children to pick up from a certain train station in an hour." Hermione grinned, flicking his cock teasingly with a finger. He groaned in disappointment, but rolled off the bed anyways.

"Well, let's go. I wanna see their faces when mom _and_ dad pick them up from the station." Harry laughed, pulling Hermione into the shower with him, clothes still on. This was going to be one long hour.

OoOoO

Fourteen-year-old Emily Potter looked around the crowd anxiously, trying to find her boyfriend. She desperately needed to say goodbye before the holidays. She wouldn't see him for another two months if her father had anything to say about it. She suddenly spotted his silky blond head, tall above the others and made her way over to him.

"Emily, there you are!" He exclaimed, instantly wrapping an arm around her waist in a tender display of affection. He leaned down and kissed her softly, one hand brushing her cheek faintly. "I'll miss you over the summer, love."

"I'll miss you more, though. If I'm at my father's, I'll owl you so you don't send me anything. You know how he'd respond." Emily rolled her eyes in annoyance and settled her forehead on his chest, breathing in his smell. He was so different than his parents. He was kind, loving, a terribly hopeless romantic and he had never once lied to her.

"Yeah, my dad, too. I have to sneak out of bed early in the mornings to get the post before him. He'd freak out if he knew. Especially since I'm supposedly 'engaged' to that Bulstrode girl." He gave a sudden shudder at the thought and grinned down at her. "I'm so glad you're gorgeous."

"Well, I am, too." She smirked, running a hand through her perfectly straight black hair and blinking her pretty, mascara-enlarged green eyes up at him conceitedly. He glared teasingly and she looked surprised. "Oh, was I supposed to say I'm glad you're gorgeous back?"

"That was the plan." He answered vainly. Emily laughed and ran her fingers through his longish blond locks, streaked with bleach-coloured hair dye. She had gotten dark red streaks in her own dark tresses because people had said it would look cute: Gryffindor prince and princess with gold and red streaks in their hair. She had to admit, they were quite right.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I'm prettier. Hate to break it to you." She teased. When she looked into his eyes, she noticed that he was no longer teasing. They held a look of seriousness and some nerves.

"I know you are." He murmured quietly. He cleared his throat softly and pulled out a small, velvet box from the pocket of his black robes. "Emily, we've been together for over a year – almost two, actually – and I want you to know that I couldn't picture my life without you in it. That's why I bought this for you, as a promise. It's a ring that you're supposed to wear as long as your heart belongs to me. It's a promise that we'll get married some day."

He paused to see the expression on her face. He saw a few tears brimming her eyelids and ploughed onwards.

"Will you wear it?" He breathed. Emily looked at the ring, then at him, then at her finger. A small smile broke onto her face, progressing slowly into a beaming grin.

"Yes!" She cried. She threw her arms around him, clutching at his robes excitedly. "Yes, I love you!"

"Oh, Merlin, that was hard." He muttered in relief. Emily stood looking at him in utter adoration as he slipped the diamond onto her finger delicately, making sure to let his hands linger as long as possible over the silver band. "Have I ever told you how much I want to marry you?"

"No." Emily responded shyly. He smiled softly, bringing her fingers to his lips.

"Then I suppose I'll have to tell you, won't I? I want to marry you so badly that I would die if you said 'no'. But I love you too much to die in front of you, so I would go somewhere else so you wouldn't have to witness it." He whispered into her ear softly, nuzzling the side of her neck in the process. "I'd die without you."

"I've got something incredibly poetic to say to that, you know." Emily murmured. She heard his quiet 'oh, yeah?' in her ear and continued. "Right back at you, sunshine."

"Lovely." He grinned. Emily leaned upwards for one last kiss before running off to find her mother, her blood still running hot from his proposal.

AN: Chapter three! Whewy! I've never completed a story so fast! Thanks for reviewing! Love y'all!

Thanks, yet again,

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	4. Chapter 4

"Emily! Emily, over here, sweetheart!" A deep voice called out. She looked around and saw her father standing beside her mother, holding Lily on his shoulders. Wow. They looked like a family. And…no, way…yes, that was what she saw…they were holding hands.

"Er, hey, Dad. What're you doing here?" Emily asked curiously. Her father grinned good-naturedly and grabbed her trunk up with a flick of his wand.

"What a nice way to greet your father after not seeing him for a year." He laughed. Emily smiled and hugged him fiercely.

"I've seen you. You know, only on ever wall of Hogwarts, grinning like a jackass with your pretty Quidditch robes flapping in the wind. Did you know that the girls in my dorm have life-sized posters of you?" Emily teased. Her father nodded enthusiastically.

"Do they really? And I was worried those wouldn't sell."

Emily looked at him as if he was insane.

"What? They pay for your Hogwarts learn-ification." He grinned. Emily shook her head and turned to her mother excitedly.

"Mom, guess what?" She squealed. Her mother raised her eyebrows in an excited inquisition. Emily whipped out her left hand and flashed the dazzling ring from her boyfriend to her. "Cory gave me a promise ring! He wants to get married after Hogwarts!"

"Oh my gosh, really!" Hermione shrieked in enthusiasm. She grabbed her daughter in a huge hug and jumped in a circle with her happily. Harry was left standing in utter mystification while his daughter and ex-wife danced in circles because a boyfriend that he hadn't known existed wanted to get married when they graduated.

"What?" He asked weakly. The girls ceased dancing. Hermione had a look of remembrance on her face.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Emily has a boyfriend."

"I can see that, actually. For how long?"

"Seventeen months."

"What? Seventeen…that's a year and a half almost! Why doesn't anyone ever tell me these things?" Harry burst out in alarm. If they'd been dating that long, Merlin knows how far they'd gotten. Look at him: he'd been moved in with Hermione for a day and had already had an intense sexual experience with her. "What have you done together?"

"Not much, compared to everyone else. You know, kissing, hugging, sneaking out to snog in broom closets at night, snuck into Hogsmeade a few times to have sex at the Shrieking Shack, not much, really." Emily held in her laughter to watch the look of severe horror take over her father's face. He made a blubbering idiot of himself for a minute or two before she burst into a fit of giggles. "Only kidding, no sex."

"Ooh, I'm going to get you! I know where you sleep!" Harry growled at her ominously. Emily grinned and gave a little curtsy. "So, who is this guy?"

"Uh, Cory." Emily said elusively. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"I can do legimency." He threatened. Emily smiled.

"And I can do Occlumency. Sucker!"

"Alright, please tell!" Harry begged. "I need to know who to give the father-being-over-protective talk to."

"Alright, his full name is Scorpio. I call him Cory because Scorpio makes me laugh." Emily revealed. Harry frowned in concentration. Didn't he know some kid named Scorpio?

Hermione's hand moved slightly and clasped onto his again, reassuring him.

"Last name, Emily." Harry asked, still entrenched in deliberation.

"Er, Mauffoi." She said really fast. Harry looked confused.

"Come again? Slower this time."

"Malfoy."

BOOM!

Harry's wand exploded, sending huge red sparks into the air. Several other Witches and Wizards turned to stare at the explosion.

"Daddy, you're making people stare!" Emily cried, trying pry the wand out of his hand. His grip tightened progressively until a constant stream of red smoke flowed from its tip.

"Scorpio Malfoy is Draco Malfoy's son. Why are you dating a Slytherin?" Harry snarled in livid contempt. Emily's eyes flared angrily.

"He's in Gryffindor." She growled. Harry's teeth were working furiously, as if preparing to gnaw off Cory's head. Emily glared back with an equal strength of loathing, her fists clenched around her willow and phoenix feather wand tightly. Harry drew his wand again and set off across the station in search of Malfoy.

Emily shot a stunning spell at his back silently, only to have it thrown back at her as a result of a wandless shielding spell. The entire way to the apparition point for the Malfoy family, Emily and Harry exchanged hexes, curses and enchantments in a mad attempt to stop the other. Emily had had enough of her father repelling her hexes.

"Dad, I love him and you can't change that! It's not like he'd do what you did to mom!" She screamed. Harry stopped and looked straight forwards. He didn't move for several moments. Emily could see his shoulders sink as her words hit him altogether. Emily's hand flew to her mouth in horror as she realized what she had said.

He didn't look back, but began to stride forwards for a second time. He wasn't angry and running in a rage anymore, but he moved calmly and surely in the direction of Draco Malfoy who was watching this exchange from a short distance. Harry stood before Draco, looking him up and down threateningly.

"If your son so much as lays a finger on my daughter when she tells him 'no', I'll kill him, Malfoy." Harry spoke quietly. Draco nodded in an imperceptive way, his face as straight as Harry's and equally as hard. Harry turned to Cory and grabbed the front of the boys robes, pushing him against the wall of the train station. "If you hurt her, you've got me to answer to. You'd better not do what I did, boy, or you're effectively finished."

"Yes, sir." Cory answered, fear written across his face. "I promise, I don't intend to leave her side until I die."

"Good." Harry growled, letting him go. He turned and strode back to his family and grabbed Hermione's hand again, avoiding the gazes of hundreds of people who stared at him in shock. "Bloody _prophet's_ going to have a field day with that. I can already see tomorrow's front page: Potter Cracks on Arch-foe on Express Pick-up Day. Potter and Malfoy Return to Rivalry. Merlin, I shouldn't have done that."

"Aw, Harry, it'll be fine." Hermione murmured, tilting her head to kiss his cheek casually. Emily's mouth dropped open as her dad turned into her touch and patted her bottom impishly. There was a bright flash and Harry whipped away from Hermione, eyes scanning the crowd in panic.

"Shit!" He exclaimed. Emily watched in confusion as her father quickly began searching the crowd for a familiar face. "Hermione, find Skeeter! We've got to get that picture from her or she'll…well, you know what happened last time!"

Hermione shoved Lily on Emily and instantly began to scan the massive amount of people in Kings Cross station for someone Emily did not know. Harry was going ballistic while trying to act calmly so as to attract less attention. Hermione's smarts finally kicked in and she drew her wand.

"Accio Rita Skeeter!" She shouted. A small beetle came flying towards her quickly and she caught it in mid air. "You give that to me, you filthy little bug."

The beetle vanished, much to Emily's astonishment and Hermione let off a string of curse words that made Emily's eyes grow large.

"Of, fuck, let's go before something else goes wrong." Harry sighed. Hermione grabbed hold of his hand again and set off to the apparition point, desperate to get home.

OoOoO

"Hermione!" Harry shouted from the kitchen the next morning. Emily still had no idea why her father was living here, but mom seemed happy so who really cared? Hermione came bustling into the kitchen in a flustered rush, hurrying to put down Lily so she could look at carefully at the paper. Her face grew steadily redder as she read.

_Many of my rabid readers are wondering what exactly is going on between the Malfoy family and the Potters after the sequence of strange events that occurred yesterday morning at the Platform Nine and Three-quarters while the two families were recovering their children from a long year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. _

_I would love to claim that I know everything about the messy break up of Harry and Hermione Potter, but it would be lie. So, I must settle for only letting you in on the few details I have knowledge of._

_Things had been going wonderfully between Hogwarts' golden couple for years, but one evening things changed. Shouts were heard for blocks and blocks of town houses such as their own. As it turns out, the two hadn't been living the perfect marriage for quite some time. Harry was away with Quidditch constantly and Hermione just couldn't settle for having a husband part time. What was it, Hermione? Was the sex so good you couldn't give it up for two or three nights a week?_

_Anyway, during a marriage counseling meeting several weeks later, Harry let out his biggest secret: he was leaving his unsightly wife for Ginerva Weasley, a charming young lady who had been glowing quite brightly for a few weeks. Apparently, sex with his wife hadn't been quite enough for our favourite hero and he had moved onto his best friend's younger sister, Ginerva. Hermione was out of a husband._

_We always suspected that something might be there to bring the Malfoy and Potter families together someday, but we never knew quite what. Know we do. It was their oldest offspring, Emily Potter and Scorpio Malfoy, two young and vivaciously life-filled teens with hormones coming out of their ears. The two have been dating for over a year and are, it seems, in a promise of marriage. _

_Emily, being only fourteen and likely having next to nothing for relationship advice from home, must be confused by the battle between her boyfriend's father and her own, but saw the perfection in young Scorpio's being and invited trouble by taking a chance on him. _

_Scorpio, age sixteen, must be very frustrated – sexually or not – by the young age of his girlfriend and has caused an even larger falling-out between Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy by attempting to force Emily into a sexually compromising position. Harry went off on Draco, threatening his son with death if he should touch his little girl again._

_What will become of the young Gryffindor Princess and the decidedly more mature Slytherin Prince?_

_The other distorted relationship ruined by Harry Potter seems to be taking a skyrocketing leap of faith, I noticed when I turned barely in time to see Harry's hand copping a feel of his hideous ex-wife's perky little behind early yesterday morning. What could Hermione Potter have done to win back her man? Had she stolen him with a love potion? Maybe she had gotten knocked up again and blamed him?_

_But that, my readers, raises this question: how could she blame him for getting her pregnant if he was married and they were divorced? Has our hero been sleeping around again?_

_See page three for more details._

"ARGH!" Hermione screamed angrily. Harry chuckled at her reaction and bent down to mess up her hair.

"You have to admit, 'Mione, it's kind of funny."

At that moment, a large snowy owl flew through the window at incredible speed. Emily walked into the room just quick enough to see it land lightly on the kitchen table.

"Hestia!" She squealed excitedly. Harry looked to Hermione for an answer and his ex-wife smiled amusedly.

"It's Cory's owl."

"Ah."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Emily said adoringly. Harry rolled his eyes and walked away from the room of madness also known as the kitchen.

_My perfect Em,_

_I really hope you don't believe a word of what you most likely just read in the prophet. None of it is true. I'm not sexually frustrated one bit. Well, okay, a little. But I plan on waiting until you are ready and I will not lay a finger on you until you ask. I really do think it's best to wait until marriage, though._

_I want you to know that I love you and I will honestly wait for you until I'm a hundred years old. Please, please, please do not try to trick me into thinking you are ready because I don't want to hurt you. I'm not frustrated that you are younger than me, either. Sure, my friends tease me a lot about not having sex, but I genuinely do not care at all. _**They**_ don't have the perfect girlfriend that they love to bits and plan on marrying someday._

_I love you so much,_

_ Cory _

_PS: I hope your dad doesn't believe what Skeeter woman said about me forcing you into something. I'd rather not die before I see you again._

Harry had walked back into the room and was reading the letter over her shoulder. Emily turned around to go to her room and promptly walked into him.

"Dad! That's rude!" She shrieked. Harry was frowning.

"That bloke is a little too free with the amount of times he says he wants you." Harry scowled protectively. Emily rolled her eyes and patted him on the shoulder.

"He's _honest_ dad. Do you know what that means?" She grinned. Harry grabbed her up and swung her over his shoulder.

"Whew, you're light. Are you eating enough when you're away?"

"Yes, dad. Get over it!"

"Well, I don't see you for a while and you come home engaged! How am I supposed to believe anything I thought I knew about you now?"

"Hmm, you could trust me!"

"A fourteen year old girl? I think not."

"Dad!"

AN: Hey again, it's me! Bet you didn't guess that one, eh? Anywho, aren't you proud? I'm updating so quickly! Have fun, everyone!

Thanks a bunch for reviewing,

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	5. Chapter 5

Cory sat in his room nervously, on foot jiggling on the floor in edgy tension. He knew his father would be coming to deal with him soon. Things had been completely fine so far. No angry words, no smart comments about how pureblood is perfection, not even and single snide comment about being in Gryffindor. It was only a matter of time before things went back to normal.

CREAK.

He looked up from his knees to see his father standing in the doorway of his bedroom, glaring angrily down his angled cheekbones and nose. Shaking slightly, Cory stood to face his father. Draco raised his wand furiously and made a slashing movement. Cory's wand flew from his pocket and landed neatly in his father's. Great. No wand, no chance.

"You have deeply tarnished the Malfoy name, Scorpio. I'll not have the children of muggles spoken to by a pureblood such as yourself." Draco's voice was quiet and dangerous, as if leaving no room for negotiation. Cory took a deep breath and let it our slowly.

"I love her, father, and if you have a problem with that, I'm afraid that I am no Malfoy." He answered in the same tone. There was a great slash of white light and a gash sliced through Cory's cheek. "I am going to marry her."

Bang! A large bruise began to form on his left eye.

"We are in a promise of marriage, actually."

Bang! He felt a bone crack in his right shoulder and moved to grasp it, but the pain was too much. His eyes filled with tears, spilling over and stinging to slash across his face.

"And…and I'm never going to let anyone know that you are any relation of mine. They won't even be aware that I know you."

Bang! Cory could feel the air being squeezed out of him as though someone had an iron grip on his ribs.

"I'd rather…be a…Potter than a…Malfoy…" He gasped.

A sudden sound of metal on metal rang throughout the room and Cory saw that his father had drawn a short, pointed knife from his belt buckle.

"You want to be a Potter? I'll show you Potter." Draco advanced on Cory, flicking his wand, producing a line of rope that tied his son in a helpless pile on the floor. He raised his knife and pressed it to his son's forehead, forcefully carving a neat lightning bolt into the skin there. Cory screamed with pain, but Draco didn't stop. "Now you're a Potter."

He stood and left, turning only to throw Cory's wand on the floor, just inches from where he could reach it.

"POTTER!" He roared in fury. "POTTER IS DOOMED TO HELL!"

OoOoO

"Oh, Heavenly father, thank you for this wonderful meal and for the people here to eat it, especially the woman who cooked it. Thanks you for the chance to be together as a family again and for giving us a second chance, amen." Harry spoke as the heads of everyone sitting at the table bowed respectfully. Hermione's lips turned up at the mention of herself and squeezed his hand gently.

"Amen." They chorused. Harry reached for the peas just as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." He said cheerfully. Today had been a good one. He had spent it with his family, kissed Hermione at least eight times and teased his daughter about her boyfriend. Good day, it was.

"Oh, hon, we don't usually answer anything during dinner." Hermione reminded him. Harry sat back down for a moment, then stood, feeling as though the door needed to be answered for some reason.

"I don't know, 'Mione, I think I should get it."

"Alright, but be quick about it."

Harry nodded and moved to the entry way, opening the door as he reached it. Outside was a nearly-beaten-to-death boy around the age of sixteen or seventeen. Harry sighed and made to close the door, but the boy fell through and fainted on the floor.

Emily heard the crash and came to see what was wrong. When she saw the boy on the floor, she screamed and flung herself to him. Harry then realized that this was Cory.

"Cory! Oh, Merlin, Cory, wake up!" She cried. Harry could see her small body shaking with terror, tears seeping from her eyes unwillingly. He bent beside her and lay a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be fine, sweetie, let's get him into the living room."

"No, upstairs. He always said my bed was comfiest." She wept. At this point, Harry thought she was too agitated to ask why this boy knew what her bed was like. He simply nodded and picked him up carefully, starting up the stairs.

Once laying on her bed, Cory began to regain consciousness. Emily had snuggled in beside him, trembling so badly that Harry didn't have the heart to tell her to refrain from being in close immediacy with a hormonal basket case of a teenager who could easily get her pregnant.

Emily was running a hand up and down his chest reassuringly as his eyes flew open. He sat bolt upright and looked wildly around the room, not seeing Harry, but noticing the fact that he and Emily were lying in her bed all alone and he had just woken up. His shirt was also missing.

"Oh, shit." He whispered. Emily reached for his arm, trying to pull him down again. "Em, if your dad sees me here, he'll kill me! He told me so! I've got to go, now!"

He began scrambling around for his shirt and wand, which was lying on the bedside table. His hands shook with fear as he pulled it over his head, wincing at the pain of lifting his arms so high. He was just at the door, blowing her a kiss goodbye when he froze.

"Em?" He murmured. She looked at him, pain written across her features at seeing him like this.

"Yes?" She hummed, her voice raspy from crying. He took it to be from screaming her pleasure and nearly broke into tears with horror.

"God, Em, what happened? If I did anything to you…Em, tell me." He was shaking again, stepping cautiously towards her in fear of what he had done. "I don't remember, Em, and if I broke my promise, I don't know what I'll do."

"Nothing, love, you did nothing." Tears were pouring down her face and Cory slowly slid into bed beside her, holding her face to his chest while trying to breathe around the bubble of fear in his heart.

"Em, nothing doesn't make you cry. What did I do, Em, tell me!" He cried in anguish. His fingers were clutching to her arms in panic, rubbing them when he realized how hard he had been squeezing her. "Em, I promise, if anything happened, I'm not leaving. I'm not going to lie, sweetie, I will freak out if we've got a baby now, but there's no way I'm ditching you. You know I love you."

He reached down and grasped her left hand tenderly, pulling it to their faces, fingering the diamond settled happily on her ring finger.

"See that, love? That means I'm yours forever. I hate to tell you, but your stuck with me eternally." He smiled and a quick grin flashed across her face in amusement that she immediately secreted. "I saw that, you know."

"Yeah, I know." She grinned. He leaned down to kiss her lightly and her head tilted up mechanically to meet him halfway. Harry suppressed the strong urge he had to rip this boy off of his daughter. "How are you feeling? Sore? Kind of beat up?"

"Hon, if anyone was going to be sore, it would be you." His smile suddenly disappeared. He would never forgive himself for this. "I'm really sorry, love. I wish I remembered that."

"Sweetie, nothing happened. Why won't you believe me?"

"Because, Em, what if you don't want me to know? What if I did do something and I hurt you so bad that you're ashamed to tell me? What if you're scared to tell me?" His face crumbled again and he buried it in her long black hair. She lay a hand on his hair, combing it with her fingers.

"You didn't touch her." Harry spoke softly. He would never admit it to his daughter, but this boy was quite possibly exactly what she needed: someone caring and stubborn, loving and persistent, and above all, he would stick by her in a sticky situation. It was more than he could say for himself.

Cory nearly fell out of bed as he scrambled to get away from Emily. Harry smiled at the quickness of this kid. He should try out for Quidditch.

"What?" He asked warily. Harry nodded silently.

"Nothing happened with you two." Harry answered again. "What I'm worried about is what happened to _you_."

"Me? What happened…oh. I got beat up again, didn't I?" He enquired, head hung in shame. Emily's hands instantly clasped over his in shock and tenderness.

"Again, darling?" She whispered in dread. He nodded.

"I figured it would happen sooner or later. Father found out about you." He murmured to Emily. A traumatized moan seeped from her lips. "So, how long was I out for?"

"About twenty minutes."

"Is that all? Well, it can't have been too bad, then." Cory put his relief into words. Emily shook and clutched his arm tightly. He winced and she let go at once. He moved it about and heard it click. "Aw, it's broken again!"

"God, Cory, why didn't you tell me?" Emily suddenly shouted in maddened nervousness. Cory jumped backwards and looked away. "We tell each other everything! If you can lie about this, what else can you lie about?"

She was flinging her things at him in a wild rage. She threw her old Howarts: A History book at his stomach and gave a single, hollow laugh when it hit him. She picked up her snow globe of New York City and pulled back to throw it, too, when she stopped suddenly. Harry had given this to her just before he left with Ginny. She hadn't touched it since then in case Ginny had touched it, too. A sudden thought entered her mind: Mom and Dad, Dad and Ginny.

"Could you lie about me being the only one who makes you happy? Have you got some other girl on the side? Is that why you haven't asked about sex even once? You're getting it from her? Bulstrode. You _are_ engaged to her, after all." Emily threw the snow globe to her feet and raced from the room. Cory was directly behind her, ready to follow her out the door, but Harry's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Sit down, Malfoy." He said seriously. Cory moved back to the bed and sat on the edge. Harry looked him straight in the face for the first time since he had arrived. When he did, the deeply cut lightning bolt scar on his own forehead stared back at him forlornly. "What's that doing on your head?"

Cory reached up and touched it, feeling the lines of his own dried blood. He dropped his hand when they made the angry zigzag.

"My father did it. I told him I'd rather be a Potter than a Malfoy." Came the whispered and timorous reply. Harry nodded stringently.

"Huh. He always was a jackass. Anyways, let me take care of this for you and then we'll talk." Harry bent over the younger man and pressed his wand to the scar forming on his head. A quick, stingingly itchy pain swept across Cory's brow and when it stopped, he could no longer feel his skin searing with the pain. Cory smiled and looked at Harry uncertainly.

"You know, I never meant to hurt her. I've never so much as looked at another girl."

"I know."

"No, seriously. Well, before she was at Hogwarts, but that doesn't count because I didn't know her. But since she came, I just…I fell in love with her."

"I understand."

"No, you don't! I couldn't live without her! Look at what I'm willing to go through for her!" Cory slapped his scarred chest frantically as if trying desperately to make Harry recognize his love. "It's not the first time, you know. Father figured out that I was at least friends with her four years ago and he's never reduced his battering one bit! Today I just couldn't…lying to him made her seem fake. I didn't want her to be fake anymore. I need her Mr. Potter, I just do. Nothing you say to me is going to change that, so save your breath."

When Cory was done, he seemed to settle in his anger for a moment before realizing that he had just told Harry Potter, the boy alive because of love, that he had no idea what love felt like. Oops.

"Er, sir." He added awkwardly. Harry grinned and sat down beside him.

"You know, contrary to popular belief, I was a good husband for a while. Things just go wrong sometimes." Harry began, still smiling slightly. "You know the reason I ended up with Ginerva for two years?"

"No."

"I was drunk and she slipped Amortentia into my Firewhiskey. I never stopped loving Hermione, but Ginerva was pregnant. I had to help her. Either way, my reputation with my kids was ruined and the one with my fans was priced incredibly high. Apparently, life-sized posters of a hero-who-sleeps-with-his-best-friend's-little-sister-while-married-to-his-other-best-friend-who-also-happens-to-be-pregnant-but-hasn't-let-said-hero-know-that-yet sell very well."

"Oh." Cory said. "Why didn't Mrs. Granger tell you about the whole pregnant thing?"

"Well, she was planning on telling me after Marriage Counseling that day, but I told her during Marriage Counseling that Ginerva was pregnant and I was the father. It's understandable that she didn't think then was the right time to tell me about her baby. After all, I was leaving her." Harry looked away for a minute, his eyes clouded over with tears. "Merlin, walking out that door was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Yeah. Er, what exactly do I say to something like that?"

Harry laughed.

"You say, 'Harry, can we talk about my fucked up father now'?"

"Oh. Harry, can we talk about my fucked up father now?"

"Why, I do believe we can, Cory."

"Well, it started when I was thirteen. He saw a picture in _the prophet_ and saw us standing together. I kind of had my arm around her. Honestly, we were just friends then, I know she was too young." Cory backtracked quickly when he saw the look on Harry's face. He didn't feel like being pummeled by a pro Quidditch player today. "He told me I was to go home for Christmas and ask no further questions. So I went. And I got the stuffing kicked out of me for 'fraternizing with a filthy Gryffindor', I believe he said."

"A filthy Gryffindor. Huh."

"You know what I said to that?"

"What?"

"I said, real determined-like, 'I _am_ a Gryffindor!' He wasn't too impressed with that."

"I can't imagine."

"Yeah, so every time he learned of me hanging with Emily, he beat the crap out of me. Pleasant, huh?" Cory's eyebrows raised sardonically. Harry smiled softly. This story was all too much like his own, from Privet Drive.

"You know what, Cory? You're not so bad. How about you stay with us until you graduate and find a place of your own, okay?" Harry suggested sympathetically. Cory looked very surprised.

"Well, I don't know…I mean, Em's not talking to me at the moment. Things might get stressful." He made excuses feebly, not wishing to live under a hero's command. Harry raised an eyebrow as he saw Cory's lips droop into a miserable frown. "I don't know what to do, Mr. Potter. We've never been in a big fight before."

"Oh, you'll think of something. It's different for everyone. With Hermione, I used to just toss her onto the bed and…well, don't ask me for fight-solving advice involving my daughter. If you solve a fight with her like I always did with Hermione, I'll personally ensure that you never have children." Harry's face went from smiling softly in recollection to bright red with mortification. Cory laughed and nodded his agreement happily.

It was time to get some good advice on women.

AN: Well, it's a little longer, at least! I don't think this one quite measures up to all the rest. I guess I'll leave it up to you to decide! Hope the pressure doesn't crack your minds… :-)

Thanks y'all,

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Hey, this is chapter 6. You know the 'its-not-mine' drill.

OoOoO

"Mrs Potter? Er, it is Mrs Potter, right?"

"Yes, dear, but it makes me seem old. How about Hermione?"

"Right. Hermione?"

"Yes, dear?" Hermione responded. Cory had been sitting in the kitchen fidgeting for nearly an hour, following her like a puppy when she left the room. Hermione had used her women's intuition to let him come to her. Asking him would be bad.

"Well, I'm kind of confused and I was sort of looking for advice."

"Have at it, then."

"Okay. Er, what was the biggest mistake of your whole life?"

Hermione was silent for a moment. It was clear on her face that she immediately had the answer, but she was wondering how to say it properly.

"Well, I'd have to say letting Harry walk out that door. There isn't a day goes by that I don't wish I had begged him to stay instead of pushing him out the door." She took a deep breath to compose herself and sighed. "Yes, not stopping Harry."

Cory nodded thoughtfully. He sat for a moment, pondering what ever was going on inside his pain-filled head.

"Thanks, Hermione."

"You're welcome, love. Anytime."

OoOoO

"Emily?" Cory whispered softly. She looked up from her book, face stained with tears, to see him standing in the doorway of her bedroom.

"Hmm?" She asked stiffly. He walked in and sat on the end of her bed. He was silent for a long time. Emily gave up trying to read her book while ignoring him and did something you wouldn't expect of a young girl. She watched him. She analyzed his body. She analyzed his face. She took in every detail he had to offer. And what she found was a boy – a man, really – who looked completely different than she remembered.

His body, she remembered to be toned to perfection and rather large and overpowering from his Quidditch Training. Now that she looked, really looked, she noticed how sweet and soft the slope of his shoulders was. She noticed the steady line of muscle down his forearm, strong but not aggressive. She let herself see that his legs, however resilient she had always thought them to be, were really quite nice, not tough like she had assumed they were. His stomach, reminisced to be steel, was indeed steel. Even so, it didn't look quite so intimidating as she had always viewed it.

His face was like a stranger's to her. How had she never noticed how kind his eyes were? The soft blue was completely unlike his father's cold stare. And his lips…she had kissed them every day and never noticed the constant activity of them. He was usually smiling like the happiest man on earth when he was with her, but now they formed an uncertain purse that kept sucking into his mouth to be bitten at nervously. His nose, she noticed, wasn't perfect like the Hogwarts Quidditch fans made it out to be.. No, there was a slight bump on the bridge where she had punched him in her first year. He had been pissed her off for being a Malfoy, but that punch is what started this all. How could she have put it out of her mind so easily?

She had never even looked at his hands before. The palms were slightly calloused from gripping his broomstick tightly during every game, every practice, and every late-night ride he had taken her on. But at the same time, they were the softest piece of him. She had always found herself slipping into the fantasy that every girl in Hogwarts had: loving Cory Malfoy. She had always seen his hands through her dreams, but never in real life before. And they were perfect. They fit her. Or she fit them. It didn't really matter, though. They fit together.

"Em?" He asked again. She tilted her head as a cue to go on. He looked back at his knees and sighed. Emily scooted closer to eliminate the suddenly enormous space between them. "I've been talking to your parents."

Emily's eyes widened. Surely this didn't mean that her dad had…he hadn't told Cory to stay away from her, had he? Cory swallowed nervously and bounced his heel lightly off her bedroom floor.

"I asked your dad…I asked him what the biggest mistake of his life was. You know what he said?" Cory's eyes had welled up slightly with tears. Emily's eyebrows knit together in worry. He'd never cried in front of her. She shook her head, indicating he would need to tell her. "He told me he had never done anything more stupid than leaving your mom. He loves her more than life itself, Em."

Emily looked down at her pink and green quilt that Grandma Granger had made for her four years ago. Where was he going with this?

"I asked your mom the same thing." He said quietly. Emily suppressed the strong urge she had to lunge at him and tell him how sorry she was. "She told me that letting your dad leave was the biggest mistake she ever made."

The two were silent for quite a few minutes. Cory was thinking about how to say what he was planning on saying next. Emily was almost in tears and didn't trust herself to speak. She looked at him tenderly until his eyes finally came up to meet hers. His hand extended to hers hopefully and she smiled at him softly before taking it in hers.

"I think the biggest mistake of my life would be to walk out that door because I'm too big of a coward to tell you I love you." He looked at her, not expectantly, but lovingly. He didn't need her to forgive him immediately. He just needed to know she still loved him.

"You know what the biggest mistake I could ever make is?" Emily asked faintly. He looked at her with tear-filled eyes. Slowly, his head shook an answer. She leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to his lips gently. "Letting you walk through that door because I'm too big of a coward to tell you I love you back."

She hugged him tightly, shaking in grief that she had almost carried out that mistake. He had almost been gone. He held her just as desperately, letting his tears flow into her hair softly. Maybe it was time for a stronger bond. Maybe it was okay to cry in front of her. It might bring them even closer to the immortality he frantically searched for; the ever-lastingness of Cory Malfoy and Emily Potter.

OoOoO

Hermione sat at the kitchen table, think about what had happened that afternoon. She had never had a teenager ask her such a deep question. It struck her as odd that he would think so intensely, from what she had seen of his family. Draco had never been one to think out his actions to save other's hearts and neither had Pansy. They had been the type to go for something no matter who got hurt. Funny thing they were still married and Harry and she were divorced.

Maybe she needed to talk to Harry about that. Maybe they could use some marriage advice from Draco and Pansy. Could their relationship put something into Harry and Hermione's that would make it last this time?

She stood from the table and made her way to the room that they shared, pushing open the door to see Harry laying back against the headboard with Quidditch Through The Ages resting on his open hand, sitting on his chest. He looked up slowly, head turning but eyes holding onto the page a second longer to finish his sentence, and looked at her lovingly.

"Hey, sweetheart." He murmured. She couldn't resist letting her lips form a happy smile as she moved over to him quietly before sitting on the edge of the bed. She sighed and rolled to lay on her stomach.

"Hey." She spoke softly, brushing some messy black from his forehead lazily. Her arm went slack and lay on his chest heavily. "I love you so much, Harry. Sometimes it hurts."

"Aw, Hermione, I love you, too. I know it hurts, it kind of burns doesn't it?" Harry interweaved his limbs with hers, desiring her closeness more than anything. His movement brought her hip into contact with his nether regions and his hand in contact with her breasts. "Burns little holes in your heart, huh?"

"It's more than that, Harry." She whispered. Her gaze shifted to his tiny tattoo, the one on his arm of a stag. He'd gotten it while in Azkaban, serving a condemnation for murdering Voldemort. As it turns out, murder is murder, no matter how you look at it. He'd been charged with first degree murder and sentenced to a year in Azkaban. Hermione had fought for his release endlessly and finally got it after four months. "My whole body aches when you're not here."

Harry stayed quiet, suspecting that she wanted to talk while he listened. He would give her that. If only she'd give him herself.

"Everything hurts. I just want to cry when you're not beside me, love. I missed you so much when you were…away. Promise me you'll never leave me like that again?" She moved her face up to his head and kissed him along the neck. He whimpered at the sexual frustration, but kept his head on the topic.

"I promise, love. I'm still disgusted with myself over that whole mess." He choked slightly when she reached for his belt buckle. Her hand rested there, occasionally flickering lower to feel him lightly. "I'm so sorry, Hermione."

"That's fine, Harry. I got over all that when you came back here. I just…I want to…its hard for me to say, Hon." She looked down, blushing like a school girl. Harry followed her gaze and found it resting on his noticeably erect nether regions. Then it hit him.

"Hermione, love, do you want me to love you?" He asked. She blushed even harder and buried her face in his shirt. "Sweetheart, that's nothing to be ashamed of. You don't need to be shy."

"But, I do! I do need to be shy, Harry! You done this so much more than me and I'm afraid that after Ginny I'll be…I don't know, forget it." She sighed, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly. She moved to get up, but Harry's arm around her waist stopped her. Her face was now an incredible scarlet colour and very hot.

"I'm not going to forget it. Hermione, this sounds important. What do you think about measuring up to Ginerva?" Harry asked worriedly. Hermione's face made it's way to his shirt again and she inhaled deeply. His hand moved up from her waist and stroked her hair.

"I think that after Ginny, you'll expect something from sex that I don't understand, okay? I'm not a risky person, Harry. I like things safe and simple and completely in my control so they don't get too out of hand. I'm not good at this sort of thing."

"Hermione, all I ever had with Ginerva was sex." Harry stated simply. Her face poked out to look at him in shock. She did not want to here about his escapades with the 'other woman'. "And a whole lot of it."

"Harry!" She whimpered embarrassedly. So he didn't think she'd measure up. Could he not have put it a little nicer?

"No, Hermione, it's true. I never once made love to her. You have no idea how much it hurt to have sex with her while all I could think about was you, all alone at this house without me to tell you how beautiful you are." His voice was low and husky with potential tears. "I miss making love to you."

"Harry, I'm not thin like her. I'm not very pretty all undressed." She protested. Harry looked at her skeptically.

"I don't believe you." He said indisputably. "Prove it."

"Harry, I don't really think you'll like - "

Harry reached over and pulled her shirt over her head to reveal her beige 'mom bra' and her pretty breasts. God, he missed those. Her hands flew to her chest wildly, trying desperately to cover herself. She avoided his gaze like a plague and grabbed her shirt from his hands to hold it over her front.

"Don't look, Harry. Please." Her eyes brimmed with tears and her face shone brightly with embarrassment. Harry looked at her guiltily and then slid his gaze away, obeying her plea.

"I just wanted to love you again, Hermione." Harry whispered softly. Her hands clutched at her body more conservatively and she lowered herself to him.

"And I want you, Harry." Her faint reply muffled against his lips. He kissed her back and brought her closer to him with one hand. In an instant, her skirt was pulled up and his pants unbuckled, boxers yanked down a few inches to reveal his erection. He pushed her panties to the side and slid into her easily. Before they could really touch base with each other, the reality of what was happening set in heavily and it was over.

"Thanks, Harry." She murmured softly. His mouth turned into a sad half-smile and he picked her shirt up off the ground for her.

"I love you, Hermione."

"Me, too. Don't look, Harry." She blushed madly and took the shirt from him. His gaze averted once again to look at something else and comply with her wishes.

Hermione's shoulders sunk with disappointment and she scrambled off the bed quickly, rushing for the bathroom to put her shirt back on. Harry lay on the bed, feeling like the biggest jackass in the world.

OoOoO

"Harry?" Hermione called through the house. It had been several weeks since the episode in the bedroom. They hadn't spoken since then and did not give any hint of intimacy at night when the slid into bed beside each other.

"Yeah?" He answered. He came sauntering into the room, one hand in a belt loop and the other swinging freely by his side. Merlin, he was irresistible.

"I found you a flat in the classifieds. I was just flipping through the paper and saw it. Here, take a look." She passed him the paper, missing the hurt look on his face. He took it and set it aside, looking at his hand as she shot him a confused look.

"What? I'll just go pay someone a couple hundred grand and move in the next day. When do you need me gone?" He asked gruffly. Hermione glared at him angrily. He had become a complete jerk these last few days.

"Today." She growled. He nodded and sauntered back out of the room, digging out a piece of parchment from his pocket with a phone number written on it.

"See you later, then. Thanks for letting me crash here for a bit." He called over his shoulder. He stopped suddenly and turned. "Before I go, who's the new guy?"

"What?"

"Yeah, you've been out a lot lately and now you're asking me to leave. It's obvious, Hermione. Hell, I never wanted you around when I was fucking with Ginny." He said in boredom. Hermione's eyes welled up with tears and she turned away.

"Just because I don't want to live with my ex-husband doesn't mean I'm fucking with someone, Potter." She snarled angrily. Harry nodded carelessly.

"Sure thing, babe. See you around."

AN: Hey, guys. Fear not, the world shall not end. Not today, anyways. Please don't get too worked up. I hate it when people stop reading because they don't like the cliffhanger. Please, love the cliffhanger. It is your friend!

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Here's chapter 7. Hope y'all love it and also know the drill.

OoOoO

Harry flopped down on their bed, staring at the ceiling hatefully. What the Hell had he done to get kicked out this time? Okay, he'd made love to her, possibly against her will, but he looked away when she told him to!

He growled angrily and rolled off his back to lay on his stomach. Maybe she hadn't really wanted to get back together. Maybe she just wanted someone to want her and then she realized he still loved her. He shouldn't have said anything. He should have just let her have his cock.

Fuck, this hurt bad. He wished he had never fallen in love with her, way back in fifth year. She was just so perfect, though. Well, maybe not perfect, but pretty damn close. She was perfect to him.

With a flick of his wand, all his clothed and stuff was back in his suitcase and ready to go. Maybe Ron would let him stay for a bit. Yeah, he might.

Harry dragged himself to the doorway and lifted his hand to turn the knob and leave everything he had behind.

"Where you going, Mr. Potter?" A deep voice asked from behind him. He turned to see his three kids and Cory staring at him expectantly.

"Well, I've got to go find a place to live." He answered. Cory shook his head calmly. Harry nodded back impatiently.

"Mr. Potter, what's the biggest mistake you've ever made?"

Harry froze. He locked eyes with Cory for a moment and bit his lip. Cory's head tipped to the side and he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

"Cory, this is different."

"How so?"

It was Hermione's voice that spoke this time. Harry's head whipped to meet her eyes anxiously. She had tears in her eyes and her face was splotchy from crying.

"Hermione, look…I just love you, okay? I understand that you don't feel the same way, but I can't keep on living here without you. I'm going and – and I don't think I'm coming back this time." Her eyes widened at his proclamation and quickly settled into a sad look of longing. "I'm not going to be taking the kids on weekends and the month in summer anymore. I'll, uh, keep sending you support, but I can't be here any longer."

"Harry listen - "

"I can't, Hermione. It hurts, just like you said. I'll just go and, whoever this new guy is, I'll get Ron to clobber the shit out of him for me. Nobody touches our 'Mione." He smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek in farewell. She lunged at him and clung to him fearfully.

"Oh, Merlin, don't go, Harry! Please, I'll do anything!" She sobbed. Harry stood completely still. Had she not recently told him to leave?

"Hermione, I don't understand." He stated in perfect truth. She continued to sob into his chest, arms wrapped around him frantically.

"I'm not letting you go this time, Harry! I shouldn't have let you last time! This time, you're going to sit down and tell me what's wrong!" Her shouts had made the kids realize that they should make themselves scarce and now they were nowhere to be seen.

"Alright, okay. I'll sit down and we can talk." He set his bags down and walked over to the couch, sitting on it demonstratively, as if proving that he could follow her directions. He wasn't an idiot.

She sat beside him and looked at her knees nervously. After a deep breath, she glanced at him.

"So…why are you going this time? Ginny knocked up again?" She questioned calmly. She was taking deep, steadying breaths.

"No. You told me to leave."

"Oh, good. That would have been far too déjà vu." She laughed uneasily. Harry looked at her in mystification. What on earth was she talking about?

"Um, I've got practice in an hour." He said bewilderedly. Her faint-hearted smile slipped instantly.

"O-oh. Well, I-I'll just let you, um, go, then." She stammered self-consciously. She stood suddenly and began the rush from the room.

"I can apparate to it, if I need to. I've got fifty minutes."

"Oh, right. Well, we should talk, then." She faltered. He smiled comfortingly and she sat back down, taking deep breaths again. Her seat was awkward and rigid, as if she was expecting to run off at any second.

"Yeah."

"Okay, I have something to tell you." She took another steadying breath and clutched at her stomach queasily.

"Well, could it wait a bit? I've got to run my stuff over to Ron's before practice." Harry glanced at the clock, tapping his foot impatiently. Her face flushed in humiliation and she turned away from him, hiding the tears in her eyes.

"Alright, Harry, but if you leave, that door might not be open when you want to come back." She said softly. He looked at her tenderly and reached out for her hand. She took his sadly and held on tightly.

"What do you need to say?"

Hermione thought about it. She was going to tell him her newest secret, but it hadn't made him stay before. Maybe she could just tell him she missed the way he used to look at her. That was part of it.

"You don't find me sexy anymore, Harry. You said you would and – and you don't. I know you don't." She mumbled, tears springing to her eyes forlornly. His eyebrows knit together worriedly and she nodded tearfully.

"I do, Hermione, you know that!" He exclaimed. Her head shook again and he pulled her close to him. "Yes, I do, love. More than anything!"

"Then why didn't you look?"

Her question made him stop; he didn't know what she meant.

"When we made love, Harry. I told you not to look and you didn't! You always used to look before, Harry. It was some horny thing you used to do, even when I told you not to. It always made me feel pretty." She cried. Harry looked down at his shoes as he remembered looking at her after she got out of the shower as she shouted at him, him keeping his gaze on her naked body anyways.

"I'm sorry, love. I didn't know you wanted me to look."

"That shouldn't matter, Harry! You should want to look. You shouldn't look because I want you to." She whispered. He took her face in his hands and stared at her for several minutes.

"I will always want to stare at Hermione Potter while she is soaking wet and she will always be sexy to me." He said, his low voice rumbling immodestly. Her face broke into a smile unwarrantedly. She squashed it quickly and tossed him a reprimanding look. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Sexy."

"You should be, Mr. Sexy." She scolded. In her heart, she knew this had to be the last time they contacted each other. "It's just too bad that you'll never see me soaking wet again."

"Why?"

"This has to stop, Harry. All this drama and chaos. You need to get back to Ginny and your daughter and I need to get back to…paying the bills as best I can. But this insanity has to finish. I can't take it anymore."

Harry's mind latched onto the part about paying the bills and wouldn't move an inch from those seven words. Pay the bills as best as she can?

"What do you mean 'the best you can'?" He asked worriedly. She blushed and looked away.

"Well, money's a little tight, but we're fine." She answered quickly. "Where are you going to be staying again?"

"At Ron's. What do you mean money's tight?" He asked uneasily. She glared at him and sighed.

"I mean I only get thirty percent of the money need to support Emily and Ricki, but I don't get anything for Lily because your lawyer said you didn't know about her until we were already in the process of being divorced. Apparently, if she was conceived after Ginny got pregnant, she wasn't yours." Hermione said stiltedly. Harry was very confused right now. She had a job.

"But what about your job?" He asked. "You get money from that."

"Yes, but it's not a Pro Quidditch job. I work as secretary to the editor of the prophet, Harry. I make surprisingly little. Ron's been trying to help me out, but you can't make something from nothing." She sighed. Harry's mind traveled back to when he had first arrived here and she was taking to Ron_. "…don't know how it's going to come together, Ron. It's just not there! You can't make something from nothing unless you're Merlin, for Merlin's sake!"_

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me? I would have helped in a second!" He said. She looked at him disdainfully.

"Would you find it easy to ask a man for money after he left you because he got some other woman pregnant?" She asked miserably. "Things aren't going my way, Harry. They haven't for a while now. They've gotten progressively worse since – since a couple of weeks ago."

"Since I got here." Harry said dejectedly.

"No, it was a while after that." She answered, breathing deeply again. "Well, let's get your stuff over to Ron's."

"Sure." Harry responded. He picked up several bags and left a small duffle for her. "Ready to apparate?"

"Er, I think I'll take the floo, actually. I shouldn't be apparating." She blushed and grabbed to duffle bag, marching into the fire and shouting 'Ron's Playboy Mansion!'.

By the time Harry had apparated to Ron's 'Playboy Mansion', Hermione had left. He thought that was odd, but he had a very angry Ron to deal with presently.

"I told you not to screw her over, Potter!" Ron shouted. Harry shrank backwards into the sofa, remembering the last 'you're a jackass, Potter' talk he had had with Ron. That was when Harry had gotten Ginny pregnant.

"I know, Ron, I'm just an idiot. She had sex with me a couple weeks ago and when she told me not to look, I didn't. Somehow, that made her angry."

"Well, yeah! They always want you to look! It makes them feel sexy, Harry. Are you dense?" Ron asked angrily. Harry shrugged and slumped away to the guest room.

"I need some time to revel in my fucked-upness, Ron. Just leave me alone for a bit."

He trudged down the hallway and flopped onto his old bed. He and Ron had named it the 'Harry's Been Kicked Out Bed' because he always stayed there when Hermione kicked him out. And here he was. On the HBKO Bed. Fuck.

OoOoO

It had been several months since Hermione kicked Harry out. If you could call it kicking. They had kind of mutually agreed to go their separate ways. And both of them were dieing slowly.

They hadn't spoke since and hadn't seen each other. Ron had visited Hermione once and had come back a few days afterwards, white-faced and completely distraught. He wouldn't breathe a word to Harry, most likely under sworn oath from Hermione, and hadn't spoken to him for several days afterwards. Harry had heard him crying himself to sleep that night.

Ron never cried. It didn't happen. Whatever was wrong with Hermione was terrible. Unfortunately, Harry had been banned from her house and she wouldn't let him come within a hundred feet of her.

Hermione was sick. That had to be the answer. She had looked so queasy the last time he saw her. Was it from radiation therapy or something? Harry liked answers. He hated questions without them. He hated not knowing why the love of his life was keeping such a distance from him.

He would find out sooner than he really wanted to, though.

AN: So, that's chapter seven. I think it was mostly filler to get to the next chapter. Nothing monumental happened. Well, Harry got kicked out, but that was bound to happen. Trust me, though, I might like tragic stories, but I also like happy endings.

Should be about 2 or 3 chapters left. Keep waiting!

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Y'all know the drill…not mine. Pooh.

OoOoO

"…yes…no…don't you understand 'no'?" Harry's voice floated to Hermione's ears, chilling her blood. She could not let him see her.

Too bad it was inevitable. Apparently, they now shared an office/cubicle thingy. Damn you, Neville Longbottom. Yes, it was Neville's fault. He was the one who got Harry an office for his Quidditch Guruing and Hermione an office for her new job – Editor of the Daily Prophet. Again, damn Neville.

There was only one way to deal with this: pretend nothing was different and Harry might realize it would be hazardous to his newly acquired bachelor-ness.

"…_no_ I said…are you dense? No, I don't think…well, yes, of course I do, but…shut up!…that's not fair…half?…a third is the best you can do?…why am I not surprised…two fifths, nothing less…deal." Harry slammed his cell shut and lobbed it angrily into the garbage can by his desk. He turned towards his new officemate with a sexy pout on his handsome face.

And Hermione grinned.

"Aw, Harry, that look doesn't suit you at all. You know that." She teased. His eyes widened in immeasurable shock to see _her_ sitting at the other desk – the bottom of her chest and under were covered so he didn't notice anything drastic about her – and he flopped into his new chair weakly.

"Fuck." He whimpered in what seemed to be pain. Hermione's eyebrows creased worriedly.

"Fuck what?" She asked edgily. His customary don't-you-just-wanna-lay-me-down-and-fuck-me grin came onto his face smoothly.

"Fuck me, love." He said huskily. In Hermione's mind, a voice was screaming 'I already did!' at the top of its lungs. For once, Hermione spoke the dirty part of her mind.

"I already did, Mr. Sexy." She replied. Harry swiftly looked away and pretended to be incredibly astonished by the amazing paper-like quality of the stack of papers on his desk.

"I'm aware of that. I was there, remember?" He said softly. He knew this would come up some time or another. He just hadn't counted on it being so soon.

"Yeah, you were." Her voice was becoming less and less strident and her head was slowly lowering itself so that her chin sunk unhappily. Harry reached over his desk and lay a warm hand on her cheek. He noticed that, even though they were paler than he would have liked, her cheeks her glowing with something. Something he had seen before, not that long ago…shit.

"Hermione, w-what's going on? Please tell me…oh, shit…" His eyes filled with horror as she stood to retrieve a package from her employee 'mailbox'.

A round, large belly protruded from her front. _Shit._ That was all that ran through his mind. Several thousand times. Shit. She was pregnant. Oh, fuck, what the Hell was going on?

"Er, Hermione…I didn't know you were pregnant." He said lightly. Inside, he was hyperventilating. Breathe, breathe, breathe. Inhale, exhale, yes, keep doing that. Good. Don't pass out. Don't pass out. Don't pass o…

"Why would you need to know?" She asked curiously. His heart sank. Shattered into a billion pieces, more like. For a moment, he'd thought maybe…but, no.

"Well, I just thought you might say…you know, because we were friends for so long…married for a while, too…I suppose it doesn't matter." He whispered. Hermione looked at him kindly. Her expression when she told him she was pregnant again had always helped to calm him down.

"Oh, Harry. We're still friends. Not as close as we were a few years back, but we're still friends. Besides, do you really want to know what's happened in my life since you left if you came back to find me pregnant?" She grinned. Harry looked away, hurt by her words. So he hadn't been the greatest husband. Did she need to rub it in his face?

"I suppose not. How far along are you?" He asked cautiously. He was hoping she was only a few months along and just pregnant with twins.

"Seven months. Why?" She asked. His face had become very pale and very hard. His jaw set and his teeth clenched. Through the angry and aching look in his eyes, his emotions were portrayed.

"Seven." He'd only been kicked out six months ago. This whole cheating thing did hurt. F-U-C-K. Fuck.

"Yep." She replied. He turned away and looked at his papery stack of paper again. She hummed softly to herself and began to make harsh lines of correction in red ink on an article that had been handed in to her a day late this morning.

Harry had a very productive day. He stared at Hermione, subconsciously thinking that he might be able to get the name of this bloke from watching her every move. And then proceed to murder him.

OoOoO

She was sitting on the bench of her window at Hogwarts. She watched as the rain fell relentlessly upon her stained glass windowpane. He could see her tears. He knew she was upset before he even saw her face, patterned with red from crying.

Her pain had always made him feel as though a knife was stuck through his heart. Sorrow, immeasurable sorrow. One step and he was by her side. She turned to him and let her tears fall onto his chest as he sat down with her.

In a way, this made him happy. No, not happy. It lifted a horrible weight from his tired shoulders. Seeing her cry, not just flounder in her grief, made him realize that she did trust him. He knew she wanted to trust him, but the incident at her house about the cheating and the sex had thrown her off course. She had found it hard to open herself to him.

Crying was a sign that she wanted him back – completely. It meant that they were okay. She would be fine; all she needed was a place she could call home. Right now, he was that place.

"I'm scared for mom, Cory." She gasped through her tears. He bent his head to hers, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. She needed to talk. She did not need reassurance. Especially not reassurance he wasn't positive about. False hope led to more misery. "I don't think she can do it again. It hurt her so badly last time…why doesn't daddy stay?"

"I don't know, sweetheart." He mumbled into her soft hair, pulling his fingers through the straight blackness of it. One hand came up from her eyes to stop his. Her fingers threaded through his and she brought the pair of linked extremities to her heart, holding them there sadly.

"I love you, you know." She murmured. Her breathed the return in her ear, kissing her neck softly as he did so. He felt a shudder run through her small body and she pushed against him, touching his body with hers as much as possible. "I need you so badly."

Her eyes fluttered away from her window, the one of a hag with a tear running down its cheek. They landed on his face, perfect and unflawed by the age of adolescence. Her other and reached up and brushed the warm skin of his face, fingers freezing from the cold seeping though the window. He reveled in her touch anyways and kissed her fingers gently.

"Don't leave me, Cory." She whispered helplessly. He nodded silently, holding her closer than before. Suddenly, her arms were flying, reaching every part she could. Her hips found his and pushed urgently, grinding into him in panic. Her hands undid his buttons in hyper-speed, nearly ripping his shirt from his body. Her lips…oh, she had never tasted to perfect to him. They fought him continuously, pushing him to his absolute limit of self-control.

"Emily…what…"His query was brought to an abrupt end as her lips crashed to his frantically. Not in need, in desperation. Nothing had ever sent her past a light snogging. He hadn't the faintest idea as to why she had him pinned to a window seat, grinding her hips to his frantically.

"Quiet, love…just let me." Her voice drifted over his ears like music. He needed this, too. As much as he tried, sexual frustration did build up eventually when all your friends ever talked about was sex. Apparently, it was awesome. It would push you to heights you'd only dreamed of. But why now..?

"Emily, wait…" She silenced him again as her fingers fumbled with his muggle jeans zipper. His pulse was moving at an alarming rate…her hand was slipping of his stomach…it reached his boxers…oh, it was gone. His eyes had shut involuntarily and he forced them open at the removal of her touch.

Her hands were now working on herself, pulling her lovely white eyelet shirt from over her head. His breath caught passionately as her hands swept away her school kilt, her modesty shorts leaving her body, as well. She knelt before him in only her bra and matching red silk underwear.

He was so hard for her. He knew the look on his face must be unnerving. He could feel the pulsing desire in his veins. He needed to feel her. Eyes begging for her permission, one hand snuck under her lower undergarments. One corner of her mouth tilted upwards – barely enough to see.

So he slipped a finger into her warmth eagerly. Her body jumped towards his in surprise and her eyes slammed closed in an emotion he didn't understand. He rolled her, pushing her onto her back so he supported himself over her body. A second slid inside, with more difficulty, forcing her to open her eyes to the twinge of pain. They were filled for an instant with fear, only to be dominated by extreme pleasure the next moment, for he had pulled his fingers from her and rubbed a swollen area he felt.

Evidently, this area his thumb was making circles around was her perfect place. Testing again, one circle ended in a sharp press, wrenching her body from the seat and sending it arching into his ecstatically. A small whimper was all she could manage as the bliss had taken over her.

"I love you." She whispered weakly as he removed his hand. They sat together a long moment, simply looking at each other. She was still crying, he noticed. She was still hurting.

"Em, why?" He asked. His voice cracked as a tear made its way down his flushed cheek. She looked away in horror. She hadn't planned on questions.

"Because I love you. I want you to be happy. If you're happy, I'm happy. It's how it works, love." She croaked, her voice disappearing from the tears. His head was shaking rapidly in disagreement.

'No, love. You're not happy." He told her. She nodded that she knew. She wasn't happy at all. Not at all. "I'm so sorry, Emily."

"It's fine. You're a guy and I pushed you. It's only natural." She answered. Her smile was returning, his own following soon afterwards. She moved towards him tentatively and sank into his arms when he opened them welcomingly.

"We'll work it out, love."

"Yeah."

OoOoO

Harry Potter sat at his desk, working on a thousand miles of paper work for his teammates. Who knew being captain of a professional Quidditch team would suck ass? Suddenly, he heard Hermione gasp in horror.

Looking up, he saw a copy of Witch Weekly in her hand, dangling loosely in weakness from her newly acquired news. Her face said he needed to see this immediately, so he rushed to her side as quickly as possible.

There, on the cover of Witch Weekly Magazine, was his daughter and Scorpio Malfoy. The Malfoy had his fingers slipped inside his daughter's most private area and they were both only clad in undergarments. What's worst, though, was the sight of his daughter arching her back in pleasure under her boyfriend's ministrations on the front cover of a magazine. Under the picture, in bold red letters a phrase was written:

_**Gryffindor Princess Getting A Head Start on the Potter Reputation?**_

__And Harry and Hermione exchanged the most horrified glance that had ever taken place between them.

AN: Hey y'all, hope you loved it. I know, it wasn't great. Really, though, two or three more chapters of my terribly horrid writing and you are free to go…until the sequel…AHAHAHA!

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Okay, this is the last one for the story. You know the 'ritual': this is the last disclaimer of Biggest Mistake. Toodles!

OoOoO

Emily walked into the Great Hall, a huge smile on her face. Last night, she and Cory had discovered something new about each other. Sex is for marriage. Hard as it was, they would wait.

The Hall was silent as she walked in. It felt as though all eyes were resting on her as she made her way to the other side to sit with Cory. He looked incredibly stressed. She sent him a worried, questioning look and walked more quickly towards him. He jumped from his seat and met her half way.

"What's wrong?" Emily hissed. He ran a hand through his hair in panic.

"Does your mom get Witch Weekly?" He whispered urgently. She nodded in confusion.

"Yeah. Likes to see the competition. You know, media stuff for the prophet." She paused for a moment to think of the reasons why her boyfriend would be asking about her mother's magazine preferences. "Why?"

He flashed a copy of Witch Weekly before her face and a glint of crimson caught her eye. She grabbed the magazine from him impatiently and glared down at the front in annoyance. What she saw made her scream.

It was her, arching her back through the pleasure he had caused her last night, his hands still caressing her most private areas. He looked unbearably hard underneath his boxers and the look of awe on his face made her know he was having difficulty restraining himself. The words 'Gryffindor Princess Getting A Head Start on the Potter Reputation?' made the anger boil inside her.

She let out another scream and looked around the Hall. Every table – even the Slytherin's – was littered with the magazine. Emily burst into tears as she watched her near-naked body being stared at by people she hardly knew.

"Oi, Potter! You free tonight?" A seventh year from Slytherin shouted loudly. The entire Great Hall dissolved into laughter. Emily had never felt smaller in her life.

She was only vaguely aware of Cory's fist descending on the boy's face with an angry thud.

OoOoO

Harry stormed out of his office, Hermione half a step behind him, growling about how he had never trusted 'that damn Malfoy kid'. Hermione was near tears and clutching his arm tightly. Her small feet were carrying her as fast as her seven-month-pregnant body would allow her.

"Fucking, insolent, goddamn jack ass of a Malfoy. Never, ever trust a Slytherin, Hermione. They're backstabbers and they don't change. Who fucking cares how much his father beats the shit out of him? He's taking advantage of my daughter!" Harry snarled in absolute hatred. Hermione nodded tearfully and stumbled to catch up. He noticed and put an arm around her waist to help her stay steady. Her grateful smile had him instantly hard.

Okay, so maybe it was hard to resist the woman of your dreams. But still, she was only fourteen! Wait…yeah, fourteen until October. Holy shit, teens these days were energetic! And that Malfoy kid had placed his energy in a very dangerous position. Fucking kid would feel the wrath of Harry Potter, one way or another.

"Harry, please, slow down…" Hermione's exhausted voice broke into his callous thoughts and shattered the amount of anger left in him. She looked completely run to the ground.

"Mione, love, are you alright?" He asked in concern. She looked at him sourly and heaved a deep, gulping breath while holding her stomach.

"Way…way too fast, Harry. Poor baby's…going to have a…heart attack. " She huffed tiredly. He smiled down at her in apology and agreed to sit for a minute or so. Her head fell against his shoulder softly, her brown curls swaying in such a lovely fashion.

"You're so pretty, Hermione." He breathed. She smiled softly at him, her chest still rising and falling rapidly.

"Yeah?" She said mildly. Her eyes were unfocussed and slightly blurred with what appeared to me more tears.

"Yeah." He mumbled embarrassedly. He hadn't meant to say that. It had just kind of slipped. "What happened to Mr. I-Got-Hermione-Pregnant?"

"Well, he ran off. Apparently, I wasn't quite enough for him." She answered sadly. Harry looked away, pain writing his features. His hand closed around hers gently, letting her know he would always be there for her.

"Love, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? I mean, sex with another guy might be stretching it, but I'm your best friend before your ex-husband. Anything you need to say, I'm all ears." Harry murmured into her pretty little ear caringly. A soft, humming chuckle raised itself from her throat and bubbled over her lips ironically.

"I know, Harry." She answered. Her gaze was soft on his face and the love in her eyes made him long for the times she had spent sitting with him on their porch swing. It hadn't mattered to her that they lived in the city. A porch swing on Main St was good enough for her.

"I wish we still had a porch swing." He blurted out. She smiled faintly and sighed.

"I wish we still had that Grande Piano you used to play for me." She replied, her voice as sweet as her smile. Harry's heart spilt a little bit more as he remembered writing songs for her, gently forcing tears from her elated eyes.

"I'd forgotten about that." Harry said quietly. The far away look on her face told him she hadn't, not even for a second. "What'd you do with it, anyways?"

It took her a moment to answer, a slight blush staining her cheeks.

"Well, I was angry at you for a few weeks and I sold it. I thought you would be upset or hurt or something. I don't know. I wanted you to feel pain, too." Her voice lost its volubility as she spoke. "I was so ashamed of wanting to hurt you, Harry. You're my best friend and I wanted to cause you harm. I went to see a specialist for it."

"You did?" He said, surprised. He had let himself slip into the story that Hermione was okay with their divorce and that she hadn't felt a bit of pain caused by him. It had made it easier on him.

"Yeah. He gave me some of those anti-depressants that you were taking for a while there. They worked, I guess. Ginny's still alive, right?" She grinned. Harry's mind had stopped working at the moment. When she said 'gave me some of those anti-depressants', his mind stopped processing information.

"You were depressed, too?" He said quietly. Hermione laughed and looked at him like he was crazy.

"Harry, my husband had gone off and knocked up my best friend. Try not to take that personally. Plus, the nightmares were sickening." She giggled. Harry was far from giggling.

"Nightmares?"

"Oh, yeah, loads. You and Ginny having sex…I didn't sleep for weeks." She answered, having no idea how much his heart was hurting right now. "Oh, and the one were Voldemort kept coming to me, gloating about how you didn't need me, how I was nothing without you. You know, even in a dream, that guy's pretty convincing."

"Yeah, he is." Harry muttered incoherently. Hermione looked at him worriedly.

"Harry? Are you alright?" She questioned. Harry's eyes snapped to hers.

"You don't get them anymore, right?" He begged. The guilt was already crushing him, laughing at the gaping hole in his lie to himself.

"Not often. Once every two weeks or so."

` "Shit, Hermione, why didn't you say something?"

"Because it made we weak to run off, spilling a few months of imagined horror to the person who created it all." She said simply. His face must have shown his incredible pain because she slapped a hand to her mouth in dismay. "Oh, Merlin, Harry, I didn't mean that!"

"No, it's fine. I guess I deserved that." He said, pulling his emotions back into their black hole of defeat. He would not feel anything about this talk. Feeling was highly overrated.

OoOoO

"Emily?" Cory's voice called quietly into the darkness. A soft sob came from the bed at the end, farthest from the door. It was his. She always went to it when she was upset. Perhaps this time required several days on it.

"Mmm-hmm?" Came her garbled answer. He moved slowly towards her, taking great care in how he handled this incident. Any second could be her running out the door, screaming how she never wanted to see him again.

"I just…I don't really know what to say to make it better, Em. Your parents _will_ be here eventually. Your dad isn't just going to forget it. Aw, shit, Em, I'm never going to be allowed to see you." The evident sadness in his voice made her lift her tearstained face from his pillow. He was standing at the foot of his bed, hesitant to come any nearer in case she got violent. It could happen.

"Honey, come here. It's not your fault." She said softly. He made his way over to her and slid into her embrace. His shoulders were slumped and tired from worry.

"It is, though. I should have said no. You're fourteen!"

"That's never been an issue before." Emily said coolly. Cory's head turned to her apologetically.

"We've never gone farther than snogging before." He answered dejectedly. "And we shouldn't have, not yet."

"But we did, okay? It's over and done with. So you found it hard to say no. That's not the problem. The problem is Rita Skeeter."

"But, Em, I've never had a problem saying no before!" Cory whined. He really was having a rough go of this.

"I've never put you in a position you had to say no to before." Emily reasoned. Cory groaned weakly.

"You haven't. Other girls have."

"_Other girls?_ Emily demanded angrily. Cory nodded.

"You didn't think no one had ever come onto me before did you? Just because I'm with you doesn't mean all the girls turn away from me. And, you know, my dad was kind of like a – a player at Hogwarts, I guess. People think I am, too. Every week girls offer me sex." Cory admitted. Emily looked horrified.

"They do?" She whimpered.

"Yeah." He answered calmly. This conversation had nothing in it that made him embarrassed.

"I thought you were a virgin. We were going to do it together." Emily's eyes glistened again, heartbroken that her boyfriend had lied to her.

"I am, though. We were talking about me saying no, right?" Cory asked, confused. "I always said no."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh. Cory, do you find it hard to wait?" Emily asked gently. Cory looked away, ill at ease. "Don't you start lying to me now, Scorpio Octavius Malfoy."

"Yeah, it's hard, Em. But I love you." He answered, looking her straight in the eyes. Emily grinned and pushed him onto his back teasingly; he pulled her with him as he went.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to get married as soon as I'm of age, then won't we?" She laughed. Cory grinned and settled his hands on her hips happily. He loved how well they fit together.

In the next several seconds, their peace and quiet would be shattered.

"_Get your filthy hands off my daughter, Malfoy!_"

OoOoO

AN: Well, that's just about it. Maybe two or three chapters left. I can't decide. I'm hoping this is a story that makes people happy when an extra chapter is added.

In any case, there will be at least 2 more chapters. Sorry for the slight shortness. Ran out of stuff to say before I went over my limit of words.

Lotsa love and hope for reviews,

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


	10. Chapter 10

"What the _Hell_ are you thinking?" Harry bellowed at Cory, who was still sprawled over Emily, holding her close to him. Emily shrank back in terror as her father attempted to rip her boyfriend away from her.

"Mr. Potter, I swear I didn't - "

"SHUT UP!" Harry roared. Hermione's hands covered her mouth in dismay, small sobs escaping her pale lips. "Why are you touching my daughter?"

"Mr. Potter, I was just -"

"No! You don't do anything that involves touching my daughter!" He shouted. Cory's temper was rising steadily. How was he supposed to explain if no one would let him?

"Alright, Potter, you might be her father, but I'm aware of how useless fathers can be! I love her, okay? I'm not going to hurt her!" Cory burst, shouting back at Harry. Emily's father stood still, looking shocked. An angry bubble of magic seemed to be fighting it's way up his arm to his wand. He gripped it tighter and it shot red sparks heatedly at his feet.

"Oh, no you don't, Malfoy." Harry growled. "You're not going to convince me with that 'love' shit. I don't believe in that stuff anymore."

"And why not, huh?" Cory glowered. Hermione was growing paler by the minute and Emily was trembling in fear.

"I know you can promise never to hurt her, but promising is a lot easier than doing what you promised, kid. You will hurt her; I know it. You'll go out with your buddies and get drunk and the next thing you know, your sitting in a divorce lawyer's office signing your name on a piece of paper and walking off to a new life that you fucking hate." Harry said, shaking with anger. Cory's face was held stiff in a sneer, his mouth working to keep the flow of insults at bay. "You have no idea how hard it is to live your life knowing you screwed up the only thing going for you, Malfoy."

"You right. I don't." Cory said calmly. Harry's face instantly took on a relieved expression. "And I plan on making sure I never do. I'm not leaving her. I'm staying until I die. Leaving her would be like screwing up the only thing going for me."

"It's not the only thing you're screwing, though, is it." Harry's snarling tone was back and Hermione sat on the edge of the bed shakily.

"Dad!"

Harry froze for a moment, turning to stare at his daughter. He'd forgotten she was there.

"What, Emily?" He growled. Emily glared at him with the same expression of disappointment and anger that he looked to her with.

"You're so hung up in your own stupid mistakes that won't even hear my side of the story!" She shouted. Harry jumped, surprised by her anger. If he was her, he'd be screaming his head off at Cory for messing up his life.

"Yeah?" He glowered.

"Yeah! It's not his fault! I did it, okay? I came onto him!"

Her exclamation froze Harry's blood in his veins. Hermione's breathing was reaching a level of intensity that couldn't be healthy.

"What?" He whispered.

"Yeah, that's right. I was scared he would leave me because he was sixteen and I hadn't let him touch me. So I did. I knew what I was doing, dad, so lay off Cory." Her words made Harry's heart pump very fast. It hurt, too, to know that he had completely contaminated his daughter's sense of right and wrong.

"Oh, Merlin, I'm a terrible father." He murmured. "I taught my daughter that sex fixes everything. Oh, God, my daughter's going to turn out like Ginerva!"

"Dad, relax. It was a one time thing. We've worked everything out. Sex is for marriage and kissing is for dating." Emily reassured him. His breathing was slowly evening out. "Our relationship is fine."

"Well, that's good, I suppose."

"What I'm worried about, though, is yours." She said quietly. His head shot up to meet her eyes, his own wide with surprise.

"Er, I haven't got one."

"Oh, yes you do. Whether you like it or not, you and mom will always have some sort of relationship."

"Oh." Was all Harry could say. Emily looked at him sympathetically and took his hand gently.

"Come on, daddy. We've got to talk." Her voice was gentle as she pulled him towards the door, her hand in his and her head resting on his arm. "Things aren't going well for you guys, are they?"

OoOoO

The Great Hall was empty. It seemed as though it were almost on purpose. Everything was dead silent, but the presence of it's previous occupants lingered lightly, as if they had just left. Harry looked around to see the red and gold banners hanging from the ceiling, grinning as he remembered having them put there in his honour in his first year.

His grin faded as he looked upon his daughter's troubled face. He knew he was guilty for putting it there. Her life hadn't exactly been a piece of cake since he and Hermione split up.

"Em, I need you to know that not everything rest on your shoulders, okay? I know this has been tough on you, but it's okay not to be the tough guy. If you ever need help with anything, I'm there, sweetie." Harry murmured, pushing his daughter's jet black hair back off her face lovingly. She smiled and looked up sympathetically through her longish bangs.

"Well, that's good to know because I do need your help." She answered softly. Harry sat beside her on a bench at the Gryffindor table.

"With what, honey?"

"I need you to help me get you and mom back together." She stated. Harry froze uncomfortably. He opened his mouth to refuse, but she shot him a glare that told him to shut up or die painfully.

"Why?"

She was quiet for a moment, pondering how and what to tell him. Harry had never noticed how she bit her lip when she was thinking – just like Hermione. She drummed her fingers off of things, too, just like Hermione. She might look like him, but she was definitely Hermione's daughter.

"You really don't know how she got pregnant, do you?" She asked quietly. Harry's eyes closed painfully and he shook his head in a swift 'no'. "You don't remember making love to her about a month before you left?"

It was Harry's turn to be silent. He was talking about sex with his daughter. He was talking about a nice quick one he'd had with her mother. Wait. Why were they talking about quick ones?

"Yeah, but why's that matter?" He asked confusedly. She grinned widely.

"I do believe you're adding to your collection of oops-that-was-an-accident children."

There was a pause in which Harry stared at Emily with an expression akin to terror and Emily stared at Harry with an expression akin to amusement. The look on his face was rather funny.

"No, shit?" Harry said in wonderment. Emily nodded unnecessarily – it was obvious that this was a rhetorical question. "Well, I'll be. Another monster. How many's that now?"

"Lily, Jillian, Ricki and I…this new baby. I guess that's five."


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, everybody, I hope you've enjoyed reading Biggest Mistake. If you haven't, well…too bad! You read it anyways. That's what matters most, right? My stuff's getting out there.

I really wanted to say thanks to everyone for sticking to my story through the slow parts and the high parts. I means the world to me that you all looked forward to the next chapter of my story. So, as a thank you, I've included the secret to my story…a song by Taylor Swift called _Stay Beautiful_.

_**Stay Beautiful**_

_Cory's eyes are like a jungle_

_He smiles, it's like the radio_

_He whispers songs into my window_

_In words nobody knows_

_There's pretty girls on every corner_

_That watch him as he's walking home_

_Saying, does he know_

_Will you ever know_

_Your beautiful_

_Every little piece, love, don't you know_

_You're really gonna be someone, ask anyone_

_When you find everything you looked for_

_I hope your life leads you back to my door_

_Oh, but if it don't, stay beautiful_

_Cory finds another way to be_

_The highlight of my day_

_I'm taking pictures in my mind_

_So I can save them for a rainy day_

_It's hard to make conversation_

_When he's taking my breath away_

_I should say, hey, by the way_

_Your beautiful_

_Every little piece, love, don't you know_

_You're really gonna be someone, ask anyone_

_When you find everything you looked for_

_I hope your life leads you back to my door_

_Oh, but if it don't, stay beautiful_

_If you and I are a story_

_That never gets told_

_If what you are is a daydream_

_I never get to hold, at least you'll know_

_Your beautiful_

_Every little piece, love, don't you know_

_You're really gonna be someone, ask anyone_

_When you find everything you looked for_

_I hope your life leads you back to my door_

Oh, but if it don't, stay beautiful

So, that's what kind of what inspired my story…you know, after I'd written it. :-) So, everybody, thanks a bunch! See y'all next story!

Lotsa luv and virtual cake,

Bridgette

Blue Dazzles


End file.
